


Supernatural "Season 16" Fic

by Destiel_is_my_OTP



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Cass is the best dad, Castiel and Dean Winchester are Jack Kline's Parents, Chuck is an asshole, Destiel - Freeform, F/F, F/M, I'm bad at writing, I'm going crazy, M/M, Post-Canon, the finale sucked
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 12:02:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28848768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Destiel_is_my_OTP/pseuds/Destiel_is_my_OTP
Summary: What happened after that controversial series finale? This is my attempt at answering that. There was so much that was left unanswered. So many plot holes and ignored events. So hopefully someone finds this to be entertaining and helpful in trying to move on from the end of this series, whether you liked the finale or not. That's what I'm trying to do for myself :)
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, Kaia Nieves/Claire Novak
Kudos: 17





	1. Surely Heaven Waits for You

Sam and Dean stand on the bridge in silence, looking out on the river. They finally feel at peace. Even when Sam had gotten to live an “apple pie” life with Eileen and start a family, it never quite felt right. Not without Dean being able to be the best man at Sam’s unofficial wedding (since they were both legally dead), meet his nephew and live next door to his brother. And even though Dean had wanted to live out his life on Earth, there was a hole in his life without Cass, and he never could have moved on. That’s why this just feels right for the boys. It’s not like they wanted to die or anything but ever since they both died for the first time all those years ago, life on Earth didn’t feel natural, like they didn’t belong there. But being here with all of the people that they lost along the way, that felt right.  
“So what now?” Sam sighs.  
“I really need to find Cass.”  
“Wait Cass is here?”  
“Ya, uh, Bobby said he helped Jack rebuild Heaven.”  
“Wow. Why didn’t he ever come find us on Earth?”  
“Um. There’s something I never told you about the night that he summoned the Empty.” Sam just looks at him slightly confused. “He, uh, told me he loved me. And I didn’t exactly say it back. So he probably doesn’t think I feel the same way and that I don’t want to see him.”  
Sam was silent for a second before he snapped. “You complete dumb ass!”  
“What?! He caught me off guard! I didn’t even fully process it until he was gone! Let alone get a chance to tell him how I felt.”  
“You two danced around your feelings for each other for 12 freaking years! I can put up with the obvious sexual tension, eye fucking and pathetic pining but this is where I draw the line! So you go find him right now and tell him you love him you emotionally constipated mess of a human being!”  
“You knew this whole time?!”  
“Of course I knew. The only people who didn’t know were you and Cass.”  
“Shit. I gotta go. Go say hi to Bobby while I’m gone, he’ll be happy to see you.”  
“Don’t wuss out.”  
“Bitch.”  
“Jerk.”  
Dean gets in the impala and drives away.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Cass!” Dean yells standing in an empty field. He falls to his knees and begins to speak quieter “Please, I need to see you. I’m an idiot and a coward. I’ve been afraid being who I am my whole life but I’m not afraid now.”  
“Hello Dean.”  
“Cass.” He stands and walks closer. “I’m so sorry. I should have responded but…”  
“Dean you don’t have to say anything. I don’t expect you to reciprocate. In fact I know you can’t. So we can just forget…”  
“Cass,” Dean interrupts, “stop talking. I couldn’t reciprocate because you didn’t give me a chance to. You were just gone. I couldn’t even process what you had said until after. I’ve been denying how I feel since we first met because I thought angels weren’t capable of feeling that way about somebody.” Cass looks hopeful and terrified at the same time. “I love you too, Cass. I’ve always loved you.”  
Cass looks like he just saw a ghost (actually he would have been fine in that situation). Dean just laughs and grabs him by the tie, pulling him in for a long awaited kiss. Cass doesn’t do anything at first, still in shock, but after a few seconds he melts into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Dean’s waist. Dean smiles in response and places one hand on Cass’ neck and his other on Cass’ hip.  
Cass pulls away, still only in inch from Dean’s face, “Is this real Dean?”  
“Fuck, I hope so. Or else I’m gonna be making some weird noises in my sleep.” Cass laughs quietly and presses his lips against Dean’s once more, pulling him even closer. Dean leans into the kiss and pushes Cass’ trench coat off his shoulders, Cass removing his hands from Dean’s back just long enough to pull it off the rest of the way.  
When Dean placed his hand on Cass’ chest, feeling his heart beat rapidly, his legs felt weak beneath him. For so long he was afraid to hold on too long, to be this close to the angel, knowing that it could never be. But now he didn’t have to be afraid. He could hold Cass close to him and never let go. After years of repression and denial they were finally able to express how they felt without any fear. After everything in the universe tried to keep them apart. Purgatory, Death, the Empty, Angels, Demons, even God himself. But they beat them all, and now they can both speak their greatest truth.  
“I love you, Dean.”  
“I love you too, Cass. I love you so much.” He pulls away. “But if you ever sacrifice yourself for me again, I swear on my car I will drag your sorry ass out of the Empty myself.”  
“Got it.” Cass responds smiling. “And if you ever die that stupidly again I will make you spend eternity listening to Vince Vicente’s albums on repeat.”  
“Now that’s just cruel.”  
“Not my fault you got killed by a freaking nail in the wall.”  
“Touché, but technically you’re the only one that can die again since I’m already in my afterlife so…”  
“Just shut up and come here.” Cass pulls Dean into another kiss. Cass pushes Dean’s jackets off his shoulders and Dean pulls it off the rest of the way, tossing it to the side.

~~~~~~~~~~

Even though Sam wanted to see Bobby he decided to hang around on the bridge for a while. “Jack? Are you listening?”  
“Hello,” comes a familiar voice from behind him.  
“Jack,” Sam turns and pulls him in for a bear hug, “I’m so proud of you.”  
“Thank you Sam. I hope you find Heaven to be to your liking. Eileen will be waiting for you when you are ready.”  
“It’s amazing Jack.” Sam pulls away. His hand still on Jack’s shoulder. “Why did you never visit? We missed you.”  
“Time works different here. Your life on earth was just a few moments for Dean here and a few months for me. I’ve been busy creating this for you and Dean. I wanted it to be perfect.”  
“Well it is.” Sam smiles. “Hey what ever happened with the Empty?”  
“When I went to get Cass back all of the angels, demons and reapers were awake with the Empty. Which I’m assuming was my doing. So I was able to put them all back to sleep and therefore the Empty was able to go back to sleep as well. I’m in the process of rebuilding an afterlife for those who deserve it that isn’t so cruel.”  
“Wow. You’ve done more in a few years than Chuck has done in centuries. I really am proud of you. Dean would agree but him and Cass are busy catching up.”  
Jack closes his eyes and laughs. “I would say that they are doing more than just catching up. I’m not sure you want to know the details.”  
“Ya, I think I’ll pass.” He chuckles, “I’m just glad they were finally able to be honest with each other.”  
“Me too. Would you like to go see the house that I created for you and Eileen? It’s next door to Dean’s place and right down the road from Bobby and your parents.”  
“That would be great Jack.”  
Jack snapped his fingers and they were gone.

~~~~~~~~~~ 

Cass and Dean lay in the grass facing each other, their legs intertwined. Cass’ arm is draped over Dean’s waist, Dean’s hand gently stroking the back of Cass’ neck. “Why did this take us so long?” Dean whispers.  
“I think it’s 'cause we’re both dumb-asses.”  
“Can’t argue with you there.” Dean sighs. “But why did you never tell me?”  
“I never saw you express interest in other men, let alone me. I didn’t think that you could ever feel the same way and I didn’t want to ruin our friendship. So I just pushed it down and ignored how I felt.”  
“Well I have had interest in men but with how I was raised and how my Dad felt about ‘queers' I just never acted on it. I guess I was ashamed. By the time I was more comfortable with that side of myself I was just too in love with you to be with any other guy so I just, you know, kept hooking up with women to push those feelings down. I didn’t think that angels could feel that way about someone so I never thought a relationship with you was possible.”  
“Most of the time angels can’t but, like I said that day, you changed me, Dean. You made me more human.”  
Dean smiles and presses a gentle kiss onto Cass’ lips, tears of happiness rolling down the side of his face. He feels like a breath that he’s been holding in his whole life has been released. This is the first time in all of his existence that he’s ever been entirely himself and entirely honest about how he feels.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sam looks up to see a beautifully rustic house with a large yard enclosed by a white picket fence. It reminds him of the house that he and Eileen had raised their son in. “It’s amazing Jack.” Sam looks next to him just in time to see Jack smile in response and disappear. Turning back to the house he sees Eileen emerge from the door and step out onto the porch. She looks as young as the day of their unofficial wedding ceremony.  
“Sam,” she says.  
Sam smiles and runs up the steps to the porch. Immediately picking her up and kissing her. It had been five years since she passed. The doctors said it was a heart attack. For Eileen it had only been a day since she entered heaven, but that was long enough to go without seeing Sam.  
“I’ve missed you so much. You should see our son. He grew more and more like you each day.” He said once his face was visible enough for her to be able to read his lips.  
“I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.”  
They hear a noise coming from inside the house and turn to see Miracle jump through the doggy door. “Hey boy!” Sam gasps and gets down to pet him. Miracle had lived with him and Eileen for about 10 years until he died in his sleep. “Dean is going to be so excited to see you!”  
“Wait where is Dean? I expected you two to show up together.”  
“He and Cass had some catching up to do and… wait how did you know what I said? I wasn’t even facing you.”  
“Jack created this special feature for me where I kind of see subtitles in my head when people speak.”  
“Wow that’s amazing.”  
“Ya it’s awesome. Anyway, Dean?”  
“Right, ya. I guess Dean wasn’t entirely honest about what happened the night Cass died and he had finally told Dean how he felt. But Dean, being ten miles in the closet, couldn’t respond in time and Cass died thinking Dean didn’t feel the same way. But since Jack brought Cass back, they have a second chance. They’re ‘catching up’ as we speak.” Sam laughs, “Although, according to Jack, they aren’t doing much speaking at this moment.”  
“They deserve that. When I first saw them together I thought they were a couple but no one ever mentioned it so I thought I was just reading into things.”  
“They weren’t exactly subtle, everyone saw it but them. But enough about them, we have some catching up to do ourselves.” Sam picks her up bridal style and carries her into their house, both of them laughing.

~~~~~~~~~~

The two couples sit at the table in Sam and Eileen’s new home. Miracle curled up at Dean’s feet. “So Cass,” Sam begins, “how exactly does everything work here? Why do we all look 40? How do you, ya know, get around? et cetera.”  
“You all see the version of each other that you love the most or are most familiar with. For example, you see Bobby as an older man while his wife sees him as much younger. And you guys see me as my vessel from Earth instead of my true form because that is what you know.”  
“What does your true form look like? I’m curious to know what I just slept with.”  
“It’s not comprehensible to the human mind. That’s why I accidentally burned out Pamala’s eyes when we first met. Anyway the way things work here is when you leave the ‘neighborhood’ of sorts that you have been placed in, any road you go down will take you where you want or need to go. Your fridge will always be stocked with your favorite food and drinks and anything else you need or want can be provided to you by the angel assigned to your area.”  
“Is that you?” Eileen asks.  
“No, I am helping Jack finish up the remodeling of Heaven, the Empty and Purgatory then I am retiring. But you do have someone else you know in charge here.”  
“Oh god please don’t let it be Gabe, this place will be chaos.” Dean says groaning.  
“No it’s not Gabriel.” Cass chuckles. “But Jack did rescue him and many others from the Empty. It’s Balthazar, he volunteered.  
“Well this’ll be interesting.” Sam laughs.  
“Ya that’s one way to put it. Wait, you said retiring.” Dean interjects. “How do you retire from being an angel?”  
“Well technically I will still be an angel but Jack said I deserve to rest. I was hesitant at first and I hadn’t made my decision regarding it until now. If it’s okay with you, Dean, I’d like to spend my time here, with you. All of you.”  
“That’s the best idea that you have ever had.” Dean leans over and gives Cass a kiss. Dean pulls away and smiles, looking into Cass’ eyes. Cass smiles back and grabs Dean’s hand. When they look back to Sam and Eileen after a moment Sam is smiling at them like an overly enthusiastic puppy dog. “Way to be subtle Sammy.”  
“I’ve been waiting for this moment for like 40 years, let me have this.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“So what do we do now?” Sam looks over at his brother on the porch bench next to him. “There’s no hunt, no one to fight, no jobs, nothing.”  
“I don’t know. What do normal people even do?”  
“No idea. We could see if we can help Jack and Cass with the remodeling,” Sam shrugs.  
“What could we even do? We don’t have powers or anything.”  
“Ya I guess. Maybe we just, ya know, relax. I mean this is heaven after all. Paradise doesn’t exactly give us much to worry about or work for.”  
Suddenly there’s a whooshing sound and Jack appears in front of them.  
“Hello. I have some not so good news.”  
Cass walks out of the house. “What’s going on Jack?”  
“Chuck is here."


	2. God-dammit Chuck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chuck really is the worst

“What the Hell do you mean Chuck is here. How did that fucking asshole get into to heaven?” Dean fumes as he stands up.  
“Well he doesn’t exactly have a soul so he didn’t so much get into heaven as he just died and we need to figure out a place to put him. But I don’t think any side really wants him.” Jack explains.  
Sam stands as well, “Can’t we just send him to the Empty or something? Or Purgatory? He’s a more of a monster the anything else we’ve hunted?”  
“I wouldn’t wish that douchebag on any of the monsters in Purgatory,” Dean mutters.  
“Either way, it doesn’t work like that,” Cass adds. “We can’t just send something or someone to Purgatory or the Empty based on how we see them. They have to actually be a ‘monster’ or a divine being. They only option we have for now is to lock him up in Heaven’s prison.”  
“That’s where he is at this moment but it’s dangerous for him to even be in Heaven. Some of the angels have expressed some loyalty to Chuck and may try and communicate with him. Which can’t happen. He could convince them to do something to disrupt the Heaven that we’ve created.”  
“What about the cage?” Sam suggests. “We could talk to Rowena and see if she would be willing to take him as long as he is fully locked away and unable to cause any problems.”  
“That would work. At least until I can figure out a better place for him.”  
“Is there a way for me to be able to talk to Rowena myself? It would be nice to to see her after so long.” Sam asks.  
“Yes but I’ll still have to accompany you. Your soul can’t leave Heaven or Hell without me or an angel.”  
“Ok sounds good.”  
“Are you ready to go now?”  
“Uh sure. Let me just go let Eileen know what’s going on.” Sam says as he turns and heads next door.  
“Hey Jack?”  
“Yes Dean.”  
“I want to go see Chuck.”  
“Why the hell would you want to do that!” Cass interjects.  
“I dunno. There’s just this part of me that needs to get some closure. See him locked up. Tell him again that he lost and that he’s getting what he deserves.”  
“If it would help you, Dean. Cass can take you to him while Sam and I are in Hell.”  
“Jack.”  
“Cass, he has no power and is in a prison cell. You and Dean can handle this. Just don’t let him get in your head.”  
“I guess. Ok Dean. Let's go.”  
“Hell ya! Field trip!”  
“You’re such a child.”  
“You love me.”  
“Ya… I do.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Geez. I’ve never seen this part of Heaven before. It’s so… white.”  
“Human’s don’t normally go through this part. But I guess you’re an exception.”  
“Is that ‘cause I’m dating an angel or one of God’s dads?”  
“Both.” Cass nods at the guard stationed at the stop of the staircase and leads Dean down them, stopping Dean in front of the doorway at the bottom. “Dean you have to promise me that you’re not going to let Chuck get under your skin. You can’t touch him or get too close to him.”  
“I promise Cass. Same goes for you.” After a moment to take a breath Dean takes Cass’ hand in his own and presses a quick kiss against his lips. “Let’s do this.”  
Cass sighs and pushes open the door.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Samuel! Jack! My boys. It’s been so long!”  
“Hi Rowena.” Sam says as she pulls him down for a hug.  
“I was so sorry to hear about Dean’s demise. I can’t even imagine how that must have felt. But at least he didn’t end up here!”  
Sam laughs sadly. “Ya. It was pretty unexpected and it wasn’t what he deserved. But we’re all together now, so I guess it turned out okay.”  
“And what did I do to earn the presence of God himself, Jackie boy.”  
Jack smiles bashfully. “Chuck has died after becoming human and we didn’t exactly plan for where to put him when he did. We were hoping to lock him in the cage. With your permission of course.”  
“Hmmm… I’m not so sure I want that scum in my kingdom. My demons may not be too happy having the former God down here.”  
“I understand but if we keep him in Heaven, we are worried he will find a way to influence some of the more blindly loyal angels. The Earth can’t afford another civil war in Heaven.”  
Rowena sighs. “If it would help keep you boys safe then I suppose you could use the cage. You would need to make some adjustments to it as it was created to house an archangel, not a human.”  
“Thank you Rowena,” Sam jumps in, “We really appreciate it.”  
“If you don’t mind me being unattended in your kingdom, Rowena, I can go work on the cage and you and Sam can catch up.”  
“Do whatever you need to do, Jack. You have my full trust.”  
Jack disappears and Sam and Rowena are left alone. “So, how did the rest of your life unfold?”  
“It was really rough at the beginning without Dean but Eileen really helped me through it once I stopped closing myself off from the rest of the world. We both decided to retire from hunting and live a fairly normal life. We had a son, hopefully he won’t be joining us any time soon. It was… it was really nice, for a long time. But once Eileen died, I felt pretty alone again. Dean, my son, was off living his own life and I kind of felt like I was ready to go, for good this time.”  
“I’m so happy for you, Samuel.”  
“Thanks Rowena. And in Dean’s case, I’m kind of thinking him dying wasn’t so bad on his end. Him and Cass finally pulled their heads out of the sand and admitted how they felt about each other. I don’t think Cass would have had the guts to come back down the Earth after admitting how he felt and Dean had no idea that Jack had gotten Cass out of the Empty. So I don’t think he ever could have moved on with his life without Cass.”  
“Oh that’s wonderful! Those boys have been pining for each other for years. Tell them ‘congrats’ for me. So, Jack can get people out of the Empty?”  
“Ya. He got Cass and some other angels that deserved a second chance out to help with Heaven. He’s in the process of redesigning a better afterlife for the angels and demons who deserve it.”  
“Does that mean he could get my Fergus out?”  
“I’m sorry but I don’t think he’s in this universe. He died in apocalypse world so he would have ended up in their ‘empty’, which was destroyed by Chuck when he was erasing worlds. I really am sorry. He deserved to go to a better place.”  
Rowena sighs sadly, “Well nothing we can do about it now I guess.”  
WOOSH  
“Ok the cage is all set for Chuck. I’ll be back soon with him.”  
“Ok pop in any time.” She smiles at Jack then turns back to Sam. “You too Samuel. And tell Dean and Castiel to come by soon as well. I want to hear all about their new relationship.”  
“I will. Thank you for everything.”  
“Of course. Goodbye boys.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Dean! Castiel! So wonderful to see you! I really missed our chats.”  
“Fuck you Chuck.”  
“Dean, what did we just talk about.”  
“Sorry.”  
“So boys. I’m guessing you’re not here to reinstate me in my rightful place as God so what do you want?”  
“Just wanted to see how pathetic you are and tell you once again that you lost.”  
“Hmmm. How do you know this isn’t still just part of my story? Maybe I make you two happy and make you think you won right before I rip the rug out from under you and take away all of your little happy endings.”  
“Then I would say your plan has backfired because here you are in a cell in a new and improved heaven run by Jack, who is about to have you transferred to Hell where you belong, talking to two of the people whose lives you tried to control but failed to.”  
“Well I think it actually ended worse for you because I got to live out my life while you died young and much less heroically, if I might add, than if I was still making the decisions about how your life played out.”  
“I died on the job. Because of that I was able to save the lives of some kids and any people in the future who would have been killed by those vamps. I’m pretty okay with that. And it meant that Sam could get out of hunting and live a normal life without feeling guilty. Besides, at least I lived long enough to see you get beaten by the very people who you thought you could control. And I got this out of it.” Dean holds up his and Cass’ hand and presses a kiss to Cass’ knuckles. “So I definitely still say I won.”  
“Oh please. You think that because you got a defective, broken angel to follow you around like a pathetic little puppy dog that you won.” Dean takes a defensive step forward but Cass holds him back.  
“He’s not worth it Dean. He’s just bitter.”  
“Oh Castiel. My once loyal follower. I’m so sorry that your boy toy got you killed before our final little spat. It would have been so fun to throw you around like I did with your little pals. But it was a lot more entertaining to go with that other story arch.” Chuck gets up from the bench he was sitting on and starts pacing around. “Now I didn’t make you two fall in love, you did that on your own, blech, but I did put some other things from that day in motion. Things that I knew would lead to a beautiful declaration of love and a ‘heroic’ death. You know. Dean’s swing and a miss at trying to kill Billie, literally, and the brilliant idea to go try and challenge Death in her own domain. Classic Dean Winchester logic. In the end, though, it was wonderful to watch unfold. I almost got a little teary. The ‘you changed me’, Dean’s failure to talk about his feelings when it really counted, and, oh, the handprint *gasp* even I couldn’t have written that little masterpiece.”   
“Dean, let’s go.”  
“Once sec. I just have one last question for ya Chuckles. How exactly did you lose? I mean you were freaking God! Omniscient, Omnipotent, the whole shebang. How is it that you were defeated by the things that you created for your own amusement?”  
“Like I said before Dean. I haven’t lost, you have.”  
“Dean.”  
“I’m coming.”  
Cass pulls Dean towards the exit. Dean’s eyes staying on Chuck, who continued to smile at Dean, until he was out of sight.   
“He hasn’t changed, has he.” Cass says as soon as they get out, stopping to allow Dean to take a breath.  
“Apparently not.”  
“Did you at least get what you needed out of that?”  
“I guess. I just don’t get why Chuck is insisting that he won, he’s literally in a cell.”  
“He’s just trying to mess with your head. You can’t let him get to you.”  
“I know. He can never take this away.” Dean says pulling Cass closer to him. “Even if he did manipulate some things, he didn’t make me fall in love with you. That was all your doing.”  
“Mmm really?” Cass said teasingly, wrapping his hands on the back of Dean’s neck. “What exactly was it? I could use the ego boost.”  
“No we can’t have any of that. You might realize that you are way too good for me.”  
“No way. If anything, you are way too good for me.”  
“How ‘bout we just agree that we make each other better.”  
“Deal.” Cass presses up to meet Dean’s lips.  
“I’m not sure if I’m ever gonna get used to this.” Cass looks at Dean quizzically. “I’ve been in denial for so long that repression has just become second nature. But now that I can just outright tell you how I feel whenever I want to… I dunno… it kinda just feels like I’m dreaming and am about to wake up.”  
“Well you don’t have to lie to yourself or anyone else ever again.”  
“I like your old trench coat better.”  
“Ok you can lie about some things.”  
“Don’t worry you still look adorable.”  
“I am a centuries old angel. I am in no sense ‘adorable’.”  
“Mmmmm no. You’re adorable.”   
“Well, since you’ve only ever seen me in a vessel, you technically think Jimmy Novak is adorable.”  
“If that were true I would have been attracted to Jimmy after you left his body for those few days or Lucifer, but I wasn’t. I find you adorable, not your vessel.” Cass smiles shyly and looks down at his feet. “Hey you said I didn’t have to lie anymore. I gotta get everything out that I’ve been holding in.” Dean places his hand under Cass’ chin and tilts his head up to meet him in a quick kiss. “We should probably head back before I go back in there and punch Chuck.”  
“Thats probably a good idea.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Sam, Jack, Bobby and Eileen are sitting at the table when Dean and Cass get back. “Hey, how did things with Rowena go?” Dean asks when they walk in.  
“Good.” Jack answered. “She said that we can use the cage to hold Chuck. I already made the necessary alterations and now I just need to take him down there but I wanted to wait for you to get back. Did you have any problems when you went to see him?”  
“No. He was just being the giant douche that he always is. Said that he didn’t actually lose, tried to mess with our heads, the normal bullshit.”  
“How could he possibly think that he didn’t lose,” Sam says, rolling his eyes. “He fucking died… as a human. And Jack is God now, not him. And he’s in a prison.”  
“I think he was just saying that stuff to mess with us.” Cass adds. “I don’t think he actually believes it.”  
“Doesn’t matter. Once he’s in the cage we’ll never have to see or think about him ever again. Anyway, how’s Rowena doing? Anything new?”  
“Ya she’s running Hell like a well oiled machine. She’s definitely fit for queen, that’s for sure. She wants you two to visit her at some point. She says congrats on finally getting together by the way.”  
“We’re we really that obvious!”  
“Yes”, Sam, Jack, Bobby and Eileen say simultaneously.  
“On that note, I should probably go get Chuck down to Hell where he belongs and where he can no longer make any trouble.”  
“Good luck, Jack.” Sam says as Jack stands up from the table, waves and disappears.  
“I still can’t believe you boys fought God and won without me. It wasn’t that long ago that you couldn’t handle a ghost without calling me up for help.”  
“Thanks for your overwhelming confidence in our abilities.” Dean says sarcastically.  
WOOSH  
“Wow that was fast.” Sam remarks as Jack stands in the doorway in silence.  
“Jack?” Cass stands. “Whats wrong?”  
“The guard is dead and the cell door has been blasted open. Chuck’s gone. Someone broke him out.”


	3. Once a Hunter Always a Hunter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A familiar face turns back up after many years. What side are they going to be on?

“What?” Dean says bluntly.  
“I said Chuck is gone.”  
“No I heard you. But what?”  
“Jack, what the hell happened?” Cass stands. “No one but us even knew that he was here. And he’s human. Why would anyone want him?”  
“I don’t know. But someone definitely did. The door was blasted in, so it wasn’t Chuck.”  
“Is there any angel that is missing or one that would want Chuck to be back in power?” Sam asks.  
“I don’t know. I’ve made so many new angels and brought quite a few back from the Empty that I can’t even really keep track.”  
“Don’t you have, like, heaven surveillance or something? Security cameras?”  
“Technically, I should be able to see everything that happens in Heaven but for some reason I can’t see this. I don’t know how it’s possible. It’s like the footage was deleted from my mind.”  
“Dude, you’re God. How did that happen?”  
“I don’t know, Sam. It doesn’t make any sense. I can’t think of anyone with that type of power.”  
“Well even when you were just a nephilim you could hold your own with God when you were at full power.” Cass says. “Is there a chance there was another one born without our knowledge?”  
“Maybe it’s not a nephilim.” Bobby jumps in. “Remember that Jesse Turner kid? The ‘antichrist’? He had powers that easily rivals a nephilim. He disappeared, didn’t he? Maybe he’s back.”  
“But we never heard anything about him since. I kinda just assumed an angel got him. Like Cass tried to do.”   
“Exactly. I tried to. No regular angel could take him out.”  
“So someone could be using him to screw things up in Heaven.” Sam says.  
“Or he’s just doing it himself.” Bobby adds.  
“No, there’s no way. Jesse’s a good kid. He wouldn’t be doing this without someone at least influencing him.”  
“Either way, how do we find this kid?”  
“There’s no way to track him.” Cass says. “Or else we would have gotten his help to fight Chuck.”  
“I might be able to find him. I am ‘God’ after all. He can hide his powers but I don’t think he can hide himself as a person.”  
“Ok good.” Sam says. “How do you do that?”  
“I’m doing it right now.”  
“Oh.”  
They all sit in awkward silence for a minute. Looking around at everyone in the room. Dean and Sam lock eyes and suddenly start laughing at the same time. Everyone else looks at them confused and Jack stops his search to stare at Sam and Dean. Cass and Eileen try to keep a straight face but they can’t help but start laughing too, understanding where they are coming from which only makes Sam and Dean laugh harder.  
“Am I missing something?” Bobby enquires.  
Dean tries to explain but can’t stop laughing enough to speak. He leans over into Cass’ lap, clutching his sides. Sam forces himself to breath and composes himself enough to get a few words out. “We’re never gettin’ outta this life, are we?”  
With that, Bobby starts chuckling too. “It’s who we are, boys. No retirement for us. Even in death.”  
Jack smiles at his family and continues his search. The laughter quiets down as the group starts thinking more about what they are actually having to deal with. If Chuck has a group of angels and Jesse on his payroll then they could have another Civil War in Heaven ahead of them. Especially if more angels decide to side with Chuck and try to overthrow Jack. “I found him.”  
“Where is he?” Sam stops laughing all together.  
“Lebanon, Kansas.”  
“Wait, what?”  
“Is he near the bunker?” Dean asks.  
“He’s in the bunker.”  
“What the Hell! Is he alone?”  
“No. There are others there but I can’t tell who it is. I don’t recognize their souls.”  
“So they’re human?”  
“Not necessarily. The souls could just belong to vessels.”  
“Is Chuck there?” Sam asks.  
“I can’t tell. It’s like the scene is blurry. And Chuck doesn’t have a soul so I wouldn’t be able to sense it.”  
“Ok then how do we deal with this?” Bobby sighs.  
“Well, you four can’t go to Earth, your bodies were burned,” Cass gestures at Sam, Dean, Bobby and Eileen, “So Jack and I are going to have to be the ones to go to Earth and check out the bunker. Dean, how about you and Sam check out things around Heaven and Bobby and Eileen can do research on Demon/ Human offspring. Work the case.”  
“Can we just go through Heaven without an Angel?” Sam asks.  
“No,” Jack answers, “Another Angel will have to go with you. They can be your back-up also. In case something happens.”  
“What Angel?”  
Cass looks at Jack and smiles. “How about an archangel?”  
“Oh Hell no.” Dean gets wide-eyed.  
“Gabriel, are you listening?”  
Woosh  
“Baby Bro! What’s up?!”  
“We require your assistance Gabriel.”  
“Boy problems?”  
“Not the kind you are thinking of.”  
“Hiya Gabe.”   
He turns around. “Dean-o! Sasquach! Good to see you finally decided to stay dead.”  
“Can’t say the same for you.”  
“Well, I’m just too important for that aren’t I.”  
“Gabriel, Jack and I need to go to Earth so we need you to escort Dean and Sam around Heaven to do some investigating.”  
“What’s goin’ on?”  
Jack sighs,“Chuck died as a human so we put him in Heaven’s prison. We were going to transfer him to the cage in Hell but someone broke him out and now he’s missing. Somehow I am being blocked from seeing who it was and what happened.”  
“Well that’s not good. Dad doesn’t exactly like to create peace wherever he goes.”  
“Ya no shit Gabe.”  
“I don’t need your sass Lover Boy. I want Daddy locked up just as much as the next Angel.”  
“That’s the problem Gabriel. Some angels don’t want to see Chuck locked up. They still have some loyalty to him and he may convince them to start another war in Heaven.”  
“Ok, let’s get this party started then. You and my dear nephew can go to Earth for whatever reason and I’ll take Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb here on a tour around Heaven.”  
Dean looks over at Cass, “Can I talk to you before you guys go?” Cass nods and he and Dean walk into the other room.  
“So they finally got together huh Samsquach?”  
“Ya. Took ‘em long enough.” Sam turns away from Gabe and walks over to Eileen. “Are you gonna be okay here with Bobby?” He signs. “I know you don’t know him all that well.”  
“Ya, it’ll give me a chance to get to know him better. You just be careful.”  
“I will. I love you.”  
“I love you too.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Are you sure you don’t want to bring any more back up?”  
“Dean, Jack is God now. I don’t think backup is necessary.”  
“But what if they hurt you? Jack can’t protect you the whole time.”  
“I’ll be fine. I promise. Besides, Jack can just pull me out of the Empty if I die again.”  
“I wouldn’t be able to handle you dying again, even temporarily.”  
“Then I won’t die.”  
“You better not.” Dean places his hand on Cass’ cheek and pulls him in for a kiss.   
“You need to be careful too.”  
“I’m already dead. What’s the worst that could happen?”  
“I don’t know but if Jesse can mess with Jacks mind then he’s more powerful than we ever thought he could be. Who knows what he’s capable of.”  
“Ok I got it. Don’t worry we’ll have Gabe to watch out for us.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Jack and Cass stand outside the bunker. “I appreciate you remaking my body for this.”  
“I don’t want anyone to have to be possesses ever again. This made me decide that my fist action after we deal with Chuck will be to craft empty vessels for Angels to use when they visit Earth.”  
“That’s wonderful, Jack.” Cass gleams with pride. “Ready to do this?”  
“Yes.” Jack places his hand on Cass’ shoulder and they disappear.

~~~~~~~~~~

“So, what finally got ya?”  
“Nail in the wall.”  
“Old age.”  
“What?! The universe’s best hunters went out like that?”  
“Well technically it was a vamp that did it, but it’s more fun to tell people I got nailed.”  
“Understandable. And how did a hunter make it to old age?”  
“I got out of hunting after Dean died. Retired with Eileen, started a family, the whole nine yards.”  
“Congrats, Samantha. Oh and Dean-o, congrats on your escape from the closet.”  
“Seriously, did everyone know?”  
“For the thousandth time, yes.”  
“It was pretty obvious how much you wanted to bang my bro.”  
“Ok, subject change. We should start at Chuck’s cell and see if there’s anything Jack missed.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Jack and Cass appear next to the table in the Bunker expecting a fight, but no-one is there.   
“I thought you said Jesse was here?”  
“He was. And he still is, just not in this room. He’s in the store room.”  
Cass looks down at the table reminiscing about the last time he was here. Glancing over at the Winchester’s initials he realizes that there is more there. Looking closer he starts to tear up. “Jack.”  
“Hm.”  
“Look.”  
Jack starts to smile. He’s had his ups and downs with the brothers but in the end they were a family. They only had each other.   
“I should have come back. If I had Dean wouldn’t have died. Sam wouldn’t have had to go through the rest of his life without his brother.”  
“It’s not your fault Cass. We’re all together now. That’s all that matters.”  
Cass sighs, “ya, but let’s go make sure it stays that way.”  
They both start cautiously making their way downstairs, Cass’ blade drawn. As they get closer to the dungeon door, voices are heard, slowly getting clearer.  
“Fuck you! I’m done!”  
“You’re done when we say you’re done, abomination. Once this is over, you can go back to your miserable life.”  
“I don’t even know what this is!”  
“And it’s going to stay that way, demon spawn.”  
“Can you just quit it with the names? I know what I am. You don’t have to keep reminding me.”  
“Just stop talking until Jebediah returns. Then you’re officially his problem.”  
“Why are you doing this? Where’s Chuck?” Cass restrains the angel and holds his blade against their throat. They remain silent so Jack walks around them to see who the angel is.  
“Atara? Why?”  
“You don’t deserve to be God. You didn’t create the Earth, he did. We’re just trying to set Heaven right.”  
“By releasing a sociopath who murdered everyone on Earth and every other world just for an entertaining story line? Jack is the only one who can fix the mess that Chuck has created.”  
“God is never wrong. Everything he does is for a reason. The right reason.”  
“And what is that right reason?”   
“It is not our place to question his decisions.”  
“Even if his decision leads to mass murder?”  
“Humanity was founded on murder. Cain and Abel. The great flood. The Crusades. Thousands upon thousands of pointless wars. Death is nothing new to this universe. We are just here to follow God’s plan and put things right. And having Lucifer’s son as our new ‘God’ is not right.”  
“But using a Cambion to betray Heaven is?”  
“Sometimes you must do a small wrong to fix a big one.”  
“Release him.” Jack commands.  
“Jack.”  
“Cass. He’s innocent. This isn’t his fault.”   
Cass presses the blade closer to Atara’s throat, “you heard him. Key. Now.”  
Atara reluctantly reaches into her pocket and takes out a key. “You will still lose. God will return to his rightful place on the throne of Heaven.”  
“We’ll see about that.” Jack says as he walks over to undo the locks on the handcuffs tethering Jesse to the ceiling, he looks no older than twenty, even though he should be pushing seventy. “Cass, watch Jesse while I take her back to Heaven’s prison.” Cass nods as Jack and Atara disappear.  
“So Jesse, any chance you want to tell me how you’re doing it?”  
“Doing what, angel who tried to kill me when I was eleven?”  
“Ya. Sorry about that. I mean how are you blocking Jack from seeing what happened when Chuck got broken out.”  
“I’ve had a long time to practice with my powers. With the right incentive I can do a lot.”  
“Where have you been? We haven’t seen you in decades. I just assumed you were killed by rogue angels or something.”  
“Oh you know. Here and there. Went overseas. You and your pals don’t seem to leave America all that often so I just kept a low profile and hoped I would be left alone. And I was until like a week ago. I haven’t been told much, just what I needed to do.”  
“There was a recent regime change in Heaven. Some aren’t all that pleased.”  
“Clearly.”  
Cass sighs and meets Jesse’s eyes. “I’m sorry you got dragged into this. You didn’t deserve to deal with this bullshit back then and you definitely don’t deserve it now. I wish you could have just been a normal kid.”  
“I got past that a long time ago. No sense getting pissed over things I can’t do anything about, right?”  
“I wish I had your mindset.”  
WOOSH  
“She is locked up and I have some of my most trusted guarding her cell and questioning her about Chuck.”  
“Good. Were Sam, Dean and Gabriel there?”  
“No, they are in another part of Heaven.”  
“Wait Sam and Dean?”  
“Ya, they’re in Heaven. We’re all working to find Chuck. Chuck wouldn’t have been defeated in the first place without them.”  
“Jesse. Do you know anything about Chuck’s whereabouts?” Jack asks.  
“I didn’t even know who Chuck was until like a minute ago.”  
“Well, quick summary, he was God,” Cass says, “but he kind of left the picture for a while then he came back but we didn’t know it was him, then he left again, then he came back, left again, and lastly came back and, as Dean says, fucked shit up, so we had to stop him. Chuck became human, Jack is now quote unquote ‘God’, Chuck died and went to Heaven’s prison then he got broken out and we don’t know how.”  
“Ok got it.” Jesse pauses, “I still can’t get over the fact that you’re God? You’re like 15.”  
“Actually I’m three. Well in Earth years I would be around fifty I believe.”  
Jesse looks over at Cass, “I’m not sure which is weirder.”  
Cass just shrugs, “If you think that is weird you should know that he’s also the son of Lucifer.”  
“Lucifer is New God’s dad. Huh. Now I’ve heard it all.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Gabriel and Dean stand over Sam, who is crouching over the destroyed cell door. “You’ve been looking at that door for like five minutes.”  
“There’s something I can’t place my finger on. Shh.”   
Gabriel rolls his eyes. “I’m an archangel and I got stuck playing detective with Nancy Drew over here.”  
“He even has the hair.”  
“Fuck off.”  
Dean and Gabe laugh.  
“It wasn’t an angel.”  
“What?”  
“Remember when the angels fell and there were those suicide bombers?  
“Ya.”  
“Remember Tessa?”  
“Reaper.”  
“It had to be a reaper. They are a lower level angel which means their power would be easier to hide from Jack. But they would still have enough power to blow this door off. Also they have access to heaven without being given permission and it would make sense for the angels to use a reaper because then they would have a new Death who is on their side because no reaper has died since Lucifer killed the last Death. It’s just a theory but it’s what makes sense.”  
“No you’re right. This is why you’re the smart one.”  
“But that would also mean Chuck likely is not in Heaven anymore.” Sam groans.  
“Wait Gabe, where do reapers go when they’re not, ya know, reaping?”  
“They’re always reaping.”  
“Then is there a way for us to see who wasn’t reaping at the time that Chuck was broken out.”  
Gabe smiles, “Dean-o! Look who’s the smart one now. Let’s go.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Ok now that you’re filled in, can you tell us who locked you up and what exactly they had you do.”  
“It was a group of angels. They threatened to send my family to Hell if I didn’t do what they wanted. They told me I had to block some breakout from the mind of a nephillim. It wasn’t very hard cause their jail breaker wasn’t a huge beacon of power. They didn’t tell me who it was but when I was doing it, I could tell it was a reaper. And they blew themselves up. Blasted open the door and the dude just walked out. Then they forced me to break the connection. But ‘Chuck’ is still hidden. I heard them talking to a witch.”  
“They’re using cambion’s, reapers and witches to try and reinstate a sociopath as god?”  
“Pretty much.” Jesse sighs.  
“Jesse, you stay here, Jack, we should go fill Sam and Dean in.”  
“Wait, why can’t I come?”  
“Cass. We can’t just leave him here. You heard Atara, Jebediah will be back soon.”  
“He has Demon blood, can he even go to heaven?”  
“Technically Sam does too.”  
Cass sighs. “Ok Jesse, you’re going to Heaven.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Ah. Here. Since Chuck disappeared Eva has not been accounted for. I bet if Jack checked, he would see that Eva is now Death.”  
“Great. Another fight with Death. That totally didn’t end badly last time.” Dean groans.  
“Come on, we should get back and wait for Jack and Cass.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Sam, Dean, Gabe, Eileen and Bobby are all sitting at the table surrounded by books when Cass walks in followed by Jack and Jesse.  
“It was a reaper” Jack and Sam say simultaneously.  
“Suicide bomber.” Cass adds.  
“We figured that out too.”  
“Who you got there?” Bobby asks.  
Sams eyed get wide “Jesse.”  
“Hi Sam. Hey Dean. Long time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Always appreciate writing tips :)


	4. Oh My Gods

“Where the fuck have you been? You just disappeared! We thought you were dead.” Dean raises his voice (such a dad).  
“I went overseas. You guys don’t tend to leave America and you also cause the majority of supernatural trouble so it was much quieter over there. Didn’t see any angels until like a week ago”  
“But now you’re working with the angels?”  
“Not my choice. They threatened to send my family to hell. Do I have to repeat everything I already told to them?” Jesse gestures to Cass and Jack.  
“We can catch up later,” Cass says. “For now we need to focus on finding Jebediah.”  
“And Eva.” Sam adds.  
“Why Eva?” Jack asks.  
“She was the reaper that blew the door off Chucks cell. So she’s likely Death now.” Gabe says.  
“Great. Another fight with Death. Cause that ended so well last time.”  
“That’s what I said.”  
“Okay. Jebediah and Eva. Oh and they are apparently working with a witch too.”  
“Awesome.”  
“Jack, are you able to see where Eva and Jebediah are?” Cass asks.  
“Yes, I can see everyone but Chuck now. They are both on Earth and I can only assume that Chuck is with them.”  
“Are they near the bunker too?” Sam asks.  
“No. They are in Jerusalem, Israel at this moment. But they have been moving around.”  
“What the hell are they doing there?”  
“They seem to be looking for something. Probably an ingredient for a spell, given they have the witch with them.”  
“Can you tell what it is. Then maybe we can figure out the spell.”  
“No but I’m guessing that it has something to do with reversing the spell that allowed me to drain the power from Chuck.”  
“I’ll get back to research.” Bobby groans.  
“Thank you Bobby.” Cass says.  
“It’s what I’m here for.”  
“I’ll join you.” Eileen says as she stands to join Bobby as he heads towards his house.  
“Me too.” Sam goes with her.  
“What can I do?” Gabe says once they leave.  
“How about you and Cass go talk to the other angels to see if anyone knows anything about Jebediah’s plans. Jesse tell Dean everything that you can think of about what has happened since they found you, maybe he’ll notice something I didn’t. I’m going to go see Rowena to ask about the witch and the spell and see where that takes me.”  
“Sounds good to me.”  
“Just be careful Jack.”  
“Cass, I’m literally God.”  
“That doesn’t stop me from worrying.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“So… you and Dean huh?” Gabe smirks as they are walking down the white hallway.  
“I knew asking you for help would backfire.”  
“What? You can’t blame me for being curious.” Cass rolls his eyes. “So, what’s he like?”  
“I’m not having this conversation with you.”  
“Come on. I could feel the sexual tension from the moment I was first in the same room as you two. I deserve some details.”  
“Maybe, but not those details.”  
“Fine. What finally made you two pull your heads out of your asses.”  
Cass sighed “We were being attacked by Death and I had made a deal with the Empty a while before that in exchange for Jack’s life it could come and take me when I allowed myself to be happy. So I told Dean how I felt to make myself happy enough for the Empty to come and take me and Death away.”  
“Damn.”  
“Ya.”  
“That’s all it took? Just telling him?”  
“After twelve years of hiding it, yes.”  
“But he said it back before you were taken right?”  
“No. That’s why I never left Heaven to go see him. I thought he was disgusted by me.”  
“Idiot.”  
“What? You can’t fault me for assuming.”  
“He didn’t say it back right then because he’s clearly always been an emotionally repressed closeted bisexual mess.”  
“Whatever. It doesn’t matter. Everything turned out well in the end.”  
“Ya it did.”Gabe wiggles his eyebrows.  
“You’re such a child. Can we just focus on the task at hand?”  
“Boring.”  
They continue walking in silence until they reach the ‘throne room’. “Hannah. We need your help.” Cass says as they approach her.  
“What do you need?”  
“Chuck has been broken out of his cell by a reaper and a rogue group of angels. Have you heard anything regarding Chuck or not wanting Jack to be in power?”  
“Well I haven’t heard anything regarding ‘Chuck”, I didn’t even know he was here but I have heard some angels expressing concern over Jack being the new God. Just with him being so young and all.”  
“Who?”  
“I believe it was Moriah and Atara for the most part but there were others that seemed to agree.”  
“We already knew about Atara but thank you. We will go search for Moriah.”  
“I’ll let you know if I hear anything else.”  
“Thank you Hannah.”  
“Of course. Anything you need, I’m here to help. Jack has done so much good for Heaven and Earth.”  
“I’m glad we have you on our side.” Cass and Gabe turn away from Hannah.  
“So Moriah too huh?”  
“We don’t know for sure that she had a role in Chuck’s escape. We need to talk to her first, get her side of the story.”  
“Aye-Aye captain.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Ok. Start from the beginning. Tell me every detail.” Dean says to Jesse.  
“I already told you guys everything I know.”  
“There could have been something that happened or something someone said that didn’t mean anything to you but would to me.”  
“Fine. I was just sitting in my apartment in Belize about a week ago when two angels just appeared. It was pretty obvious that they didn’t just want to chat. All they said is that if I didn’t do everything they said without question that my family would be cast out of Heaven and be tortured in Hell for eternity. It’s not like they asked me to kill anyone or anything so I just did what they told me. But when I tried to leave they chained me up in some underground bunker and said I needed to ‘await further instruction’. By that point it was pretty clear that they had no control over who is in Heaven or else they would have had more man power and they wouldn’t have needed me to help break someone out of Heaven’s prison. But just when I was about to snap, kill that bitch holding me there and leave, Jack and Cass showed up.”  
“Anything else? Any tiny detail or conversation?”  
“Just that they were working with a witch and some reapers and some chick called Amara was causing them some trouble.”  
“Wait what! Amara? What else did they say about her?”  
“I dunno. They said something about her wanting to get away from Chuck or escape him or something.”  
“She’s still in there.”  
“What? Who is she?”  
“God, or Chuck’s, sister. The darkness. He became one with her right before Jack drained his power. We thought he just gained her power. We never even thought that she could still be in there.”  
“Whose side is she on?”  
“Her own for the most part. But she doesn’t want to see the Earth destroyed so she could be helpful.”  
“But if she merged with Chuck then how could she be causing trouble?”  
“I dunno, maybe she’s trying to take over control of his body or something. To get him to separate with her again.”  
“Would her being separate be good or bad?”  
“Well if she is keeping him in check then being with him is a good thing. But if she was out, she could tell us what they are trying to do. And she’s as old as Chuck is so she pretty much knows everything and could tell us how to stop it.”  
“So… what do we do?”  
“No idea.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Moriah. Why you betraying Heaven.”  
“Gabriel.” Cass looks at him in exhaustion.  
“What? Straight to the point.”  
“Um what are you talking about?” Moriah asks.  
“Were you talking to Atara about Jack?”  
“Yes but, well Atara was saying that he shouldn’t be God because he’s so young and naive but I am happy with the changes he’s made. He may be young but he’s done more for Heaven than God ever did.”  
“I’m glad to hear you say that.”  
“But you should know. Atara was telling me about this group of angels that want God to be back in charge. As far as I know they aren’t planning anything though. She didn’t tell me anything more once I said that I was supportive of Jack.”  
“Did she mention anyone else that she was working with?”  
“Just Jebediah. But I know there are more”  
“Thank you Moriah.”  
“Of course.”  
They turn away from Moriah. “So dead end.”  
“Yep. We should probably get back. See if they found anything in the books.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Do you think they could actually do it?” Bobby says, breaking the silence.  
“Anything’s possible but with the process that we had to go through to get Jack there, it’s unlikely.”  
“Better to be safe though. If they have Death on their side, witches and who knows how many angels and reapers, we can’t underestimate them.” Eileen adds.  
“Ya, you’re right. I just can’t believe we’re going through this shit again. I thought Heaven was supposed to be peaceful and relaxing.”  
“Well that would just be boring.”  
Sam laughs quietly. “Still, can’t we just help out with small things? No more apocalypse level shit.”  
“You boys outgrew the small stuff a long time ago.”  
“Dude, we just wanted to find our dad. Now we are fighting the ex-God to make sure the new God, who is the son of Satan that we adopted, stays in charge. How the hell did we even get here?”  
“The world needed help. And you boys were the only ones that stepped up to the plate.”  
“Ya… I just thought the world was done needing this kind of help.”  
“Just one last fight, then you can retire for good.”  
“We’ll see.”  
“Wait, look at this.” Eileen interjects.  
“Hmm?”  
“This is about the trials and spell that Jack used. It says that killing the person the uses it will expel that power that was absorbed and return it to its original location.”  
“So if they kill Jack…”  
“Chuck gets all his power back.”

~~~~~~~~~~

WOOSH  
“Rowena, we have a problem.” Jack looks around the empty throne room. “Rowena? Rowena?” Jack makes his way into the next room. Bodies with burnt out eyes surround Rowena chained to a chair, her face bloodied and bruised.”  
“Rowena!”  
“No! Jack leave!”  
“Hello Jack.”  
“Jebediah. What are you doing?”  
“Setting things right.”  
“By killing demons?”  
“By taking out your allies, your friends. ‘God’ shouldn’t be working with Demons. And you shouldn’t be God. You didn’t create this world, you shouldn’t be in charge of it.”  
“Chuck created it and then tried to destroy it because he couldn’t control the people living in it.”  
“God is never wrong.”  
“How would you know? You never even met Chuck until after he was dead and powerless.”  
“It doesn’t matter. He is our creator. He is the only one that has the right to lead us.”  
“You don’t get to make that decision. Do you really think I want to be God. I just want to live a normal life, be a kid. But I don’t get to because someone had to save the world from Chuck. Someone had to take on the responsibility.”  
“You don’t have to have that responsibility. God isn’t the villain you make him out to be. We can help you if you let us.”  
“You’re wrong. He hurt my family. I can’t let you do this.”  
“I’m sorry to hear that. Because you may have the power of God, but you are not him. You still have human in you, a human with a fatal weakness. And thanks to Death, we know what that weakness is and how to exploit it.” 

~~~~~~~~~~

Cass and Gabriel walk into Bobbys house. Sam, Dean, Bobby, Eileen and Jesse are standing around a large, leather-bound book. “Did you guys find anything?”  
“We need to get Jack back here now.” Sam looks up. “They’re gonna try and kill him.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“And what is that exactly?”  
“Jack,” comes a voice from behind him.  
“Mom.”  
“Oh my baby.” She tries to walk forward but is unable to move her feet.  
“Oh hon, you’re not going anywhere.”   
“Who are you?” Jack says to middle aged woman that walks up behind Kelly.   
“Agnes.” Rowena says shakily. “She wrote the Book of the Damned.”  
“But, you’re dead.”  
“Where do you think you are boy?”  
“What are you doing to her?”  
“I’ve learned some tricks since I died. Demons make the best witches.”  
“Well she’s already dead so what’s your play here?”  
“Actually, she isn’t anymore. See that’s the benefit of having Death on your side. She’s very much alive. So she can very much feel pain.” Jack raised his hand, “I wouldn’t hon. If you kill me, my spell takes full effect and she will feel more pain than anyone ever has. And there is no way for anyone but me to remove the spell.”  
“What would you have me do then.”  
“Absolutely nothing.” Jebediah says. “You will go back to Heaven and stay there until you are contacted.”  
“Why?”  
“Because if you don’t, your mother will go through an unbelievable amount of pain for eternity. Worse than if she were in Hell.”  
“No. I mean why send me back to Heaven?”  
“Because this isn’t when you die. When it is, we’ll let you know.”  
“Jack,” Kelly whispers. “Please, just let me go. The world needs you too much.”  
“I can’t let you suffer any more.” Jack smiles tearfully at his mom before he disappears.


	5. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor Jack

“Jack are you okay? What happened?” Cass says when Jack appears in the room, face covered in tears and nearly hyperventilating.  
“They have my mom.”  
“Kelly? How? She’s supposed to be here in heaven.”  
“De- Death brought her back to life just so they can use her as leverage. They um… the witch who wrote the book of the damned put a spell on her. If I don’t do what they say it’s going to torture her an- and they took Hell, they have Rowena.”  
“Jack, Jack slow down. It’s all going to be okay. We’ll save her. We’ll save everyone.”  
“You don’t understand. All they have to do is…”  
“Kill you.” Dean says.  
“Ya.”  
“I can’t let my mom hurt any more. I have to do what they say.”  
“What did they tell you to do right now?” Sam asks.  
“Just stay in Heaven until they contact me.”  
“Then for now she’s safe. We have time to come up with a plan.” Cass guides Jack to sit at the table. “Just breathe.”  
“They’re right.”  
“What are you talking about?”  
“I’m not God. I observed his power, but I’m not him. If I was I could save her with a snap of my fingers. I can’t write a story and just make it real. I’m not omniscient or omnipotent or any of the things he was.”  
“But you are so many things that he wasn’t. You are kind and compassionate. You care about every living thing in this world. You fight for everyone. He only fought for himself.”  
“Those are the reasons I’m losing.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“What do we do?” Sam whispers to Dean.  
“How should I know?”  
“You’re the king of crazy-ass plans.”  
Dean sighs. “I dunno man. Jack’s just a kid. He shouldn’t even have to be making these decisions.”  
“I know. But he does. So we need to do everything we can to help him, even if it’s not enough.”  
“What if we got everyone else. Mom, Dad, Jody, Donna, Kevin, Charlie, Ash, Ellen, Jo…everyone. We may not be enough but if everyone got together, we may be able to come up with something.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“You mean to tell me you boys haven’t been to see your parents yet?” Bobby questions as they head out to the impala.  
“We haven’t exactly had time.”  
“And I’m not sure what I’m going to tell Dad.” Dean mumbles.  
“What are you talking about? Your old man will be proud of all you’ve done.”  
“Except Cass.”  
“Oh. Well it’s not his place to tell you you can’t be with him. You’re a grown ass man. You can do what, or in this case who, you want.”  
“Ugh. Do I even have to tell him?”  
“He’s gonna find out sooner or later Dean.” Sam responds.  
“Not if Chuck wins and we all get wiped out. Upside.”  
“Dean.”  
“Fine. Wait, since Dad never met Cass, what’ll he look like.”  
“Jack said normally people who never met you would see how you looked when you died but since Cass isn’t dead I would guess it would be how he chooses to look. So he’ll probably look like he does to us.”  
“I’m trying to decide if Dad will be more okay with a dude or an angel the size of a skyscraper.”  
“Well you got the drive down there to think about it. Good luck.” Bobby says as he turns and heads back towards the house.

~~~~~~~~~~

They approach their childhood home and the door flies open“Dean! Sam!”  
“Mom.” Dean whispers as he pulls her in for a hug. “We’ve missed you. So much has happened. I’m so sorry.”  
“It’s okay. Jack came to see me. He filled me in. I’m so proud of you.” She turn to Sam and gives him a hug. “Both of you”  
“Me too boys.” John adds.  
“Thanks Dad.” Sam says  
“This is weird. You guys look younger than us.”  
“Not in my eyes.” John says. “You two look in your twenties.”  
“God my hair.” Sam laughs.  
“I’m glad I’m not seeing that.” Dean says.  
“So, what took you two so long to come and see us?” John asks. “Didn’t you boys get here a while ago?”  
“Ya boys. What took you two so long?” Bobby says sarcastically.  
Dean laughs awkwardly. “Hey Dad? Can I talk to you outside?”  
“Of course.”  
Dean turns to Sam. “Can you fill mom in?”  
“You mean on…”  
“Ya. We’ll talk about the rest of it when we come back in.”  
Dean and John go out the door and head towards the Impala. “Glad to see she made it to Heaven.”  
“I don’t think it’s actually her. I think my baby’s just a part of my heaven.”  
John smiles. “So what’s so important that you needed to talk to me alone about?”  
“Um… I fell in love.”  
“That’s great! What’s her name?”  
“Cass.”  
“Cassie? I thought you two broke up.”  
“No not Cassie. Cass.”  
“Well what’s the big deal? You think I won’t approve of her.”  
“Well the thing is… um… it isn’t a her.” Dean says slowly.  
“Oh.”  
“And he’s an angel.”  
“Oh.”  
“Ya. You just have to get to know him and I’m sure you’ll get along great. But, really,” Dean gets more assertive as John just stares at him, emotionless, “it doesn’t matter what you think because he’s the only person I’ve ever truly loved in this way and-“ “Dean.” John cuts him off. “It isn’t what I imagined for you and I’m definitely not comfortable with that lifestyle but I’m not going to tell you what to do. Because you’re an adult that has been through hell and you deserve to be happy.”  
Dean just stares at his father blankly. “Wow thought this was going to be much more of a fight.”  
“What did you think I was gonna disown you or something? We’re in Heaven. Isn’t that where we are supposed to be happy? And if this ‘Cass’ makes you happy, then so be it. I’m just gonna need some time to adjust.”  
“Ya of course. You should really come meet him. Mom and him got along really well so I’m sure you guys will too.”  
“Does your mother know?”  
“No. I was still in denial when she was with us. We didn’t really get together until recently even though I’ve been in love with him for like a decade. He told me how he felt right before he sacrificed himself to save me. I was able to tell him I felt the same way once I died, came here and found out Jack brought him back.”  
“Well if he saved you, then he’s already getting on my good side.”

~~~~~~~~~~  
“So what’s going on?” Mary says to Sam.  
“Well what Dean’s telling Dad right now is that he’s with Cass. Like in a relationship. It’s been a long time coming.”  
“Wait, they weren’t already dating? I thought Dean was just afraid to tell me or do anything with me there.”  
Sam laughs. “They’ve basically been an old married couple since they met but no, they were in denial the whole time.”  
“Stubborn idiots.” She laughs and smiles at Sam. “So what about you honey. Did you get to settle down?”  
“Ya. I got married, kinda, we were both legally dead so it wasn’t official, but her name’s Eileen. You have to meet her she’s amazing. She was a hunter too but we were able to retire and have a son. You’re a Grandma.”  
Mary smiles brightly and places her hand to her mouth. “I can’t wait to meet him but I hope he isn’t here yet.”  
“No don’t worry he’s alive. Eileen’s here though.”  
“Well where is she?”  
“She’s getting the others.” Mary looks at him puzzled. “When Dean and Dad come back we’ll fill you in, ya know, depending on if Dad disowns Dean or not.”  
“Don’t worry, John’s old fashioned but he loves Dean, it’ll be okay.”  
With that Dean and John walk back in slightly awkwardly. Sam gives Dean a questioning look and Dean just smiles faintly and nods. Sam returns the smile and clears his throat. “Ok let’s get down to business.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“You’re fucking with me.” John says monotonously. Sam and Dean exchange looks. “You’re not fucking with me. You two fought God, won, and now your adopted son, who is the son of Satan, is now God?”  
“That’s the Spark Notes version.” Dean sighs and sits back.  
“And now there’s a group that’s trying to reinstate ‘Chuck’ as God and you need everyone’s help to stop them.”  
“Pretty much.” Sam says.  
“Okay.” Mary stands. “Let’s go.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The Winchesters walk into Bobby’s house to find everyone had beat them there. Jody, Donna, Charlie, Ash, Ellen, Jo, Kevin, Ms. Tran, Rufus, Missouri, Ketch and a bunch more people that they didn’t even recognize. Eileen is standing with a younger couple and an older woman that Sam recognizes as her parents and the woman who raised her. Jesse is sitting in the back looking through a book. Before they can say anything Charlie runs up and tackles them both.  
“Charlie!” Dean almost yells. His smile turns to tears.  
“We missed you so much.” Sam says sadly. “I’m so sor-”  
Charlie pulls back ,“No. Stop. It wasn’t your fault.” Sam smiles. “Besides, we got bigger problems now. Let’s go save the world!”  
“Charlie.” Dean says. “You’re the best.”  
“I know.” She turns and walks back to the group.  
“Hi Dean.” Comes a voice from behind.  
“Jo.” Dean says sadly.  
“Epic job saving the world.”  
“Couldn’t have done it without you.”  
“Obviously.” She wraps her arms around him for a hug. Dean sees over her shoulder that Sam is catching up with Ellen and he can’t help but smile tearily. They have everyone that lost back with them.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay everyone.” Dean says as he stands up from sitting beside Ellen. “I know you all know a little bit about what’s going on but here’s the plan. We need you guys to come up with a plan. Thanks.” He sits back down and looks around at everyone’s exasperated and confused faces.  
“You sure you choose him?” Mary mutters to Cass.  
“Somehow he meets all my standards.”  
Sam clears his throat. “Um a bit more specific of instructions. We need to figure out a way to keep them from hurting Kelly while also keeping them from killing Jack and getting Chuck back his powers. Maybe a way to remove the spell from Kelly? Or some way to make the power unable to leave Jack. Anything.”  
Everyone looks around in silence.  
“I’m on it.” Ash says. “Dr. Badass is in.” He turns and heads into the other room with his laptop.  
“I love this man.” Charlie says as she turns to join him.  
“I can’t tell if that team-up is going to be genius or destructive.” Sam says to Dean.  
“Either way, it’s gonna be awesome.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Demons and Angels are one thing but God? Way above my pay grade. I don’t even know where to start.” Rufus says gruffly.  
“It’s just one step up. Get Googling.”  
“There’s Google in Heaven?” Sam asks.  
“That’s Ash’s doing.”  
“Of course it is. Him and Charlie are gonna be one hell of a team.”  
“If anyone can find the answer to this, it’ll be them.”  
“Oh ya. Dean is with them right now to fill them in on any details.”  
“That’s a chaotic team.”  
“Well right now I guess we might need to fight chaos with chaos.”  
“Maybe. How’s Jack doing?”  
“I don’t know. I mean Cass has been trying to help him but he just seems like he’s given up.”  
“The poor kid’s been through a lot. I mean I barely know him but from what I do know, he shouldn’t have to be taking on this responsibility.”  
“I know. I wish he could have just been a kid. It isn’t fair to him but if any one person has to have that amount of power, Jack is the one I would trust with it.”  
“Huh. Is there a way to distribute the power?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Well Jack absorbed the power from Chuck right?”  
“Ya.”  
“Well what if all of the angels were able to absorb a little bit of the power from Jack? That way there wouldn’t be a God anymore and Chuck wouldn’t be able to just kill Jack and get the power back.”  
“Bobby you are brilliant.” Sam says as he stands and rushes out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey guys, we need to find a way for Jack to transfer little bits of his power to a bunch of angels. Bobby’s a fucking genius. If there isn’t one God then they can’t just kill Jack and get Chuck his power back. And Jack wouldn’t have to be God anymore.”  
“Why the hell did we not think of that? I’ll go let the others know.” Dean stands and leaves. Just before Sam is about to do the same Ash gets his attention.  
“Hey Sam.”  
“Hmm?”  
“Dean’s bangin’ the angel, right?”  
“What!” Charlie interjects. “And no one told me!”  
Sam bows his head and laughs. “Ya, he is.”  
“I knew they had a thing for each other!”  
“We all did. Hey you guys need any help while I’m here?”  
“Well if you don’t mind could you wait here until Dean gets back?” Charlie asks. “Just to answer our questions about Jack and stuff.”  
“Sure no problem. You guys are our best hope after all.”  
“So if we’re gonna transfer power from Jack, we probably need to do some variation of the spell he used to take the power from Chuck in the first place. So what exactly was the spell?”  
“Well the spell was originally supposed to turn Jack into a cosmic bomb to kill Chuck and Amara. He had to go through a bunch of trials to do it. But right after he lit the fuse, Chuck absorbed Amara and escaped, leaving Jack about to blow. So Billie, or Death, sent him to the Empty to blow up in there. After that he became a power vacuum but we don’t exactly know how.”  
“Well we can’t exactly have every angel go through that process.” Ash says. “Our best bet is finding a way for Jack to expel the power into them.”  
“Is that even possible?”  
“Anything’s possible at this point.”  
“I hope you’re right.”  
Dean walks back into the room. “Everyone’s on board.”  
“Awesome. Ash was thinking we should find a way for Jack to expel power into people not for others to suck it out of him.”  
“Ya that would probably work best.”  
“I’ll head back to Bobby and Rufus. See if they’ve made any progress.”  
“Okay. I’ll send Dean if we find anything.” Charlie says without looking up from her computer.  
“What am I a messenger boy?”  
“Pretty much.”  
Sam laughs as he leaves the room.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey everyone’s workin’ on your plan”  
“Good ‘cause we got nothin’.”  
“Well Ash and Charlie are on it. I’m sure they’ll find something.”  
“They’re definitely our best hope. I’m still trying to figure out how to search for stuff on this thing.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“I think I got something.” Charlie says after hours of silence. Dean and Ash look up from their book and computer respectively. “It says here that gods from past religions were able to give up portions of their powers through power granting. I can’t find anything on the Christian God but maybe if we talk to a Greek or Roman god they could tell us how they do it.”


	6. Meet the Parents... and Grandparents?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack makes a decison regarding his position as God.

“We have a god of sorts already here.” Dean says.  
“What?”  
“Gabriel. He kinda took over as Loki for a while. He might know something about it. Or at least know someone who would.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“I’ve never heard of a god power-sharing with more than one person. And it’s normally a demigod that gets the power.”  
“But do you know how they do it.”  
“It’s supposed to be just something they do. Like breathing.”  
“So Jack probably knows how to do it, he just doesn’t know that he knows.”  
“Ya.”  
“Is it dangerous?” Charlie asks.  
“I don’t think so. But I don’t know what happens when they share their power with a many people as you guys are talking about.”  
“Well we have to try. And if it starts harming Jack then we stop.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Are you sure this’ll work?” Cass asks Charlie. “What if it just leaves him vulnerable and they just kill him out of spite?”  
“Cass. It’s the best plan we’ve had. And it could solve two problems.” Cass looks at him with pity. “I shouldn’t be God. And I don’t want to be God.”  
Cass nods and smiles sadly before responding. “Okay. Let’s get started.”

~~~~~~~~~~

A small group of angels stands around Jack. The group includes Balthazar, Samandriel, Hannah, and Gabriel. Cass is standing at Jack’s side. “Ready?”  
“Yes.” Jack turns to Cass.   
“What are you doing?”  
“You’re the one I trust the most. I want you to be the first one I give some of God’s power to.”  
“Are you sure that I deserve it?”  
“For fuck sake Cassie.” Balthazar interjects. “You’ve saved the world like a hundred times. If anyone deserves a giant ego it’s you.”  
“Cass. Please.”  
“Okay Jack.”  
Jack nods and places his hand on Cass’ shoulder, closing his eyes in concentration. After a few moments Jack opens one eye. “Do you feel anything?”  
“No. Do you?”  
“No.” Jack sighs and steps back. “I don’t think it’s working.”  
“So back to Charlie’s original plan. We find a god.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Come on Gabriel. You know at least a few gods.”  
“Ya but they’re all assholes. You two met some of them. They tried to eat you.” Gabe gestures at Sam and Dean.  
“He’s not wrong.”  
“It doesn’t matter. We just need to ask to ask them about power sharing. We don’t have to be friends with them.”  
“Fine. Let’s go ask Hades.”  
“Hades?!” Dean and Cass respond simultaneously.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Hades! How you doin’ bro?”  
A guy that looks like the failed lead of an emo band turns away from a messy desk to look at Gabe, Cass and Jack.“Loki. What are you doing here?”  
“Actually, not Loki, just stole his face a while back. The name’s Gabriel.”  
“Even worse. An Archangel.”  
“Ya think that’s bad. Say hello to God. Capitol “G”.”  
“I’m sorry? I’ve met God, and you are not him.”  
“You can call me Jack. I’m not really God. I just took his power to stop him from destroying the world. And hopefully I won’t be “God” for much longer.”  
“I always hated that guy. And why would you not want to be God?”  
“There shouldn’t be one God. And I’m only three, sort of.”  
“Let me guess, long story?”  
“You could say that.”  
“So I’ll ask again. What are you doing here?”  
“I need to know how to power-share.” Jack says.  
“Power-share huh?”  
“To many people. Or angels in my case. If possible, permanently.”  
“I could help you out I guess.”  
“Will you?”  
“Perhaps. One condition.”  
“Which is?”  
“You share some of your power with me.”  
“But you’re already a god. Why do you need more power?”  
“No one believes in me anymore. My power is extremely faded.”  
“Deal.” Jack says.  
“Jack.” Cass says  
“He’s not a bad guy. Cassie.”  
“He’s the god of death.”  
“Was the god of death.”  
“Hey!”  
“Sorry bro. Come on Cassie. You wanna keep Chuck out of power or not?”  
“Fine. You okay with this Jack?”  
“Whatever gets me the information I need.” Jack turns back to Hades. “Okay. How do I do it?”  
“For a permanent transfer of power just say ‘I gift thee this power’, in Enochian in your case, and place your hand on mine.”  
Jack looks to Cass and nods.“Ol gift yls oi lansh.” Jack places his hand on Hades’. Both of their eyes glow orange and a stream of energy exits Jack’s mouth and enters Hades’. Jack stumbles back.  
“Jack! Are you okay?” Cass grabs his arm to keep him from falling.  
“Ya I’m fine.” He stands up straight.  
Hades smiles. “Man that feels good.”  
“Thank you.” Gabriel says.  
“No. Thank you. You should be able to do that about about 9 more times before you are at the power level of an archangel.”  
“Thank you Hades.”  
“Anything for New-God.”  
“Not anymore.” Jack smiles.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Did you figure it out?” Sam asks when they reappear back in front of him and Dean.  
“Ya. And we tried it out on Hades. It worked.”  
“You gave Hades God power?”  
“It was part of the deal.” Cass says  
“Are you sure that was a good idea?” Dean asks.  
“He isn’t a bad guy. And I didn’t give him all that much power. Nothing near the level he used to have.”  
“All that matters now is that Jack knows how to power-share.” Cass says.  
“Ya. So let’s get started.” Jack says.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay let’s try this again. Ol gift yls oi lansh.” Jack places his hand on Cass’ and more orange energy leaves Jack for Cass.   
Cass straightens up as Jack stumbles back, Dean catching him before he falls.  
“You okay kid?”  
“Ya I’m fine. Cass? How do you feel?”  
“Strong.”  
“How strong?” Dean asks.  
“Even stronger than when I absorbed the leviathans. But this time I don’t think I’ll explode.”  
“You better not.”  
“Ok. Let’s keep going. Hades said I could do about 10 shares total so I gotta transfer to 8 more angels.”  
“Are you sure you want to do transfer that much power Jack?”  
“I don’t need it. Or want it.”  
Cass smiles. “Okay.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Jack sits in the kitchen chair of Sam and Eileen’s house, exhausted and drained, literally.   
“You feelin’ any better Jack?” Sam asks.  
“Ya, I’m… I’m feeling ‘me’ again.”  
“That’s good.” Dean smiles.   
“So what happens now? Ya know, with Chuck and stuff.”  
“We wait for them to call on me I guess. Then when they realize I no longer have the power they need, it’ll be their play.”  
“We’ll make sure Kelly is safe, Jack.” Cass says. “I promise.”  
After a moment of silence Sam speaks up. “While we wait, Eileen, I want you to meet my parents. And Dean, you should give Cass and Dad a proper introduction.”  
Dean gets wide eyed and looks over at Cass, who looks just as terrified as Dean.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Mom, Dad, this is Eileen, my wife.”  
“It’s so nice to finally meet you properly. I’ve heard so much about you.”  
“You too.”   
“Good to see my boy’s got good taste.” John says.  
Eileen smiles smugly at Sam.  
Sam laughs and rolls his eyes. He then looks over at Dean, who is clearly gripping Cass’ hand extremely hard judging by his white knuckles. Dean gulps and leads Cass over.  
“Dad. This is Cass.”  
John holds out his hand hesitantly. “Good to meet ya Cass. I’m John.”  
Cass shakes his hand. “I’ve heard so much about you. It’s wonderful to finally meet you.”  
John smiles semi-forcefully. “I can’t say I wasn’t taken aback when Dean told me about you but it’s good to meet you too.”  
Cass looks over at Dean, who hasn’t breathed since the conversation started, and smiles. He then turns to Mary. “It’s really great to see you again Mary.”   
She responds with a hug. “Thank you for taking care of my boys.”  
“It was my pleasure.”  
“And thank you for finally being the one with enough balls to confess how you felt.” She shoots Dean an eye-roll.  
“Hey!” Dean says defensively. “I didn’t know angels could feel love like us.”  
“You also have internalized homophobia and emotional constipation.” Sam adds  
“Shut up. Let’s just sit down.”  
“I’ll leave you guys to catch up.” Jack says as he turns to leave.  
“No way are you getting out of this.” Sam says before he can exit.  
“Ya. You’re just as much a part of this family as we are. I mean these are basically your grandparents since we kinda adopted you.” Dean adds.  
“Are you sure?” Jack looks to Mary and John nervously.  
“Oh course. I’ve heard so much about you. I’d like to get to know you further.” John says.  
Jack smiles. “Okay.”  
They all move to sit down in the living room, Jack, and John and Mary taking the two armchairs and Sam, Eileen, Dean and Cass squeezing onto the large couch. “So whatcha gonna do now that you’re not God, Jack?” Mary asks.  
“I don’t know. I’m thinking I may just join the rest of the Angels in renovating Heaven. Someone else can take charge.”  
“What else needs to be done?” John asks.  
“Well before all this happened I was planning on redoing Purgatory and the Empty but I’m not sure now.”  
“I’m sure you guys’ll figure it out.” Sam says.  
“Well it all depends on what happens with Chuck and Jebediah and…”  
“Hey.” Cass interrupts. “Don’t think about that right now. We’ll sort it out. It isn’t entirely up to you to fix anymore.”  
Jack cracks a small smile and nods.  
“Let’s move on to happier topic.” Dean says after a moment. “We’re trying to distract ourselves here.”  
“Right.” Mary says. “So Eileen, tell us more about yourself. Where did you grow up? How did you and Sam meet? I want to hear it all. I know very little since we kind of just missed each other back on earth.”   
“Well um I was born in Ireland but after my parents were killed by a banshee I was taken in by a hunter named Lillian O'Grady and we kind of traveled around until I was 16 and she died of cancer. After that I kept hunting banshees on my own for a while but I never found the one that killed my parents. Then I met Sam and Dean on a hunt. I tried to kill Sam but eventually I started to like him.”  
“Hey!”  
Eileen laughs. “Anyway, I was killed about a year later by a hell hound, you know that part,” Eileen gestures at Mary, “then after Chuck released all the souls from Hell I was able to get out and Sam brought me back to life. Then I died again, thanks Jack for fixing that one, and ya. That’s about it.”  
“You left out my proposal, our wedding, having a son, retiring all that stuff.”  
“No one wants to hear the corny stuff.”  
“But they need to hear about how beautiful you looked.”  
“Your the one who looked beautiful. I mean after the hours you spent doing your hair how could you not.”  
“You guys are so cute I just want to throw up.” Dean says, interrupting their teasing.  
“Oh fuck off. You’re one to talk.”  
Dean and Cass roll their eyes as Eileen and Mary laugh.  
“So are you gonna tell us about your wedding and your kid or what?” John says after a moment.  
“Well I proposed after a rough hunt and asked her to retire with me. Obviously she said yes.” Sam nudged Eileen playfully. “It was really small and informal. Just some hunters and Jodi, Donna and the girls. Held it in a park near Jodi’s house. A few years later Eileen got pregnant and we had a son. Named him Dean.” Sam looks over at his brother who smiles and looks down at his feet.  
“I didn’t know that.”  
“I guess I never told you that, did I?”  
“Well even though he’s got a dork of a dad, at least he’s got a cool name.”  
Sam chuckles.“Once he gets here, which hopefully won’t be for a while, I’m glad he’ll be able to meet the original.”  
“God Sammy, you really are corny.”  
“Jerk.”  
“Bitch.”

~~~~~~~~~~

After a few hours of swapping stories, joking around and John and Mary getting to know their new extended family, Jack suddenly stands and inhales sharply. “Jebediah wants me to meet with them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have zero plans for the rest of this, I'm just making it up as I go along so wish me luck


	7. 'Cause I'm T.N.T., I'm dynamite!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chuck is still an asshole and Jack deserves a hug. Also, Cass is the best Dad ever and I love him with all my heart.

“Now?” Cass asks.  
“Yes. Well soon. He said within the hour. Well, Earth hour. So around 5 minutes here.”  
“Shit,” Dean mutters under his breath.   
“I’ll come with you.” Cass stands.  
“No Cass. Heaven needs you here.”  
“What about Jesse?” Sam asks. “He has more power than you now. He could protect you and Kelly.”  
“Okay, I’ll get him.” Jack turns back to Cass. “I’ll be okay. We’ll all be okay.”   
With a whooshing sound, he is gone and Cass collapses back onto the couch. “What if they kill him? What if this was the wrong thing to do? We never should have let him get rid of his powers. It just made him vulnerable. If anything…”  
Dean cuts him off. “Hey hey hey. It’s all going to be alright.” He puts his hand on Cass’. “He’s gonna be fine. I promise.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“This is not gonna end well.” Jesse says monotonously standing next to Jack outside the bunker. “And why do they keep choosing this dump?”  
“Because this was my home. And they like to screw with me.”  
“Still a dump.”  
“Whatever. Let’s just get this over with.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay Jebediah. I’m here. Now what.”  
“You were supposed to come alone.”  
“That was not specified in our agreement.”  
“Doesn’t matter. We still have your mother and we are willing to trade.”  
“Trade what.”  
“Your life for your mother’s.”  
“So I die and Chuck gets his power back right? That’s what you think’ll happen?” Jebediah looks at him emotionlessly. “Cause that’s not going to work anymore.”  
“And why not?”  
“Cause I don’t have Chuck’s powers anymore. No one does.”  
“That’s impossible.”  
“Sorry. But he’s right.” Jesse jumps in. “He doesn’t have it anymore. Permanent power-sharing.”  
“If that’s true, then what’s stopping us from just killing you two and your mother? Did you think that through?”  
“If you hurt us or my mom then there is an army of powered-up angels waiting in Heaven to attack if I do not return or send word within the hour. And I am not leaving without my mother and Rowena.”  
Jebediah scowls and turns away from them, nodding at the angels behind him. He turns back with even more anger showing. “You haven’t won. We will find a way.”  
“We’ll see,” Jack says in a very Dean-like tone.  
Before Jebediah can respond, Rowena and Kelly emerge from the other room. A group of angels behind them, followed by Chuck himself.  
“Jack!” He yells in his squirrelly Chuck voice. “What did you do?”  
Jack just stares back with anger in his eyes.  
“Jesse Turner? I thought I wrote you out of this story?”  
“Well, you ain’t in charge anymore.”  
“No matter. I always love a call back to earlier seasons.”  
“We aren’t your TV show anymore Chuck. You aren’t God anymore. And you never will be again.”  
“We’ll see.”  
“Didn’t you hear? I don’t have it anymore. Your power I mean. No one person has it. There is no more God.”  
“Oh yes, I heard that that’s what you think. But what you don’t understand is that that is kind of what I hoped would happen.”  
“And why is that?”  
“Because that means you’re going to lose. It is soooooo much easier to kill a couple of super-powered angels than one God.”  
Jack swallows and shakes his head. “That’s not going to happen. Now release my Mom and Rowena and leave us alone.”  
“And why would I do that?”  
“Because if you don’t, all of Heaven’s angels, including 9 with some of your power, will smite this bunker and everyone in it.”  
“How do I know you won’t just do it anyway after you leave?”  
“Because I give you my word.”  
“Ha! That means nothing to me. I wouldn’t keep my word on that so why would you?”  
“Because I am a better person than you.”  
“Oh Jack. We aren’t people. We just happen to look it. Why would you want to protect a world that you don’t belong in? One that does horrible things. We could have been great together. We could have created an entirely new universe. One that actually celebrates us for who we are. Not one that fights wars and discriminates and destroys in my name, but one that has peace and contentment.”  
“All you have ever done is create chaos. You don’t care about anyone but yourself and your entertainment.”  
“And neither do the humans! Don’t you see! I created humanity in my image and that is why they are flawed. That is why it needs to be redone. Don’t defend them Jack, Help me fix them.”  
“They don’t need to be fixed, Chuck. Give up. It’s not going to happen.”  
“Jack. Didn’t the Winchesters teach you that family needs to stick together?”  
“They did. They also taught me that family doesn’t end in blood and it doesn’t start there either. So you aren’t my family. My family is Cass and Sam and Dean.” He looks over at Kelly. “It’s my mom and Rowena.” He looks back at Chuck. “Eileen, Mary, John, Gabriel, Bobby, Charlie, Jodi, Donna, Ash, Ellen, Jo, Rufus.” He looks to his side. “and you Jesse.” Jesse cracks a small smile and nods. “So you see Chuck, you mean absolutely nothing to me. So don’t try that family shit with me. Because I have a family and you are not a part of it.”  
“You are so wrong Jack.”  
“No. You are. So give me Kelly and Rowena and get the hell out of my home.”  
“Oh, I’ll give them to you but don’t think for a moment that that means you won. We’re just getting started.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“He’s been gone too long. I should have gone with him.”  
“It’s been like 3 minutes.”  
“It’s been 10 minutes on Earth. It could have been a trap all along and we just sent him right into it powered down.”  
“Not fully powered down. He’s still at least as strong as an archangel and he has Jesse with him.”  
“But who knows how many angels they actually have. They could have an army. They could have hundreds of other beings for all we know.”  
Dean puts his arm around Cass and pulls him closer. “He’ll be okay. Just think about something else.”  
Cass sighs and lays his head on Dean’s shoulder, closing his eyes in defeat. “That’s not possible.”  
Placing a gentle kiss on the top of Cass’ head he sighs, resting his head on top of Cass’ and closing his eyes as well. “I know.”   
Sam looks sadly at Dean and Cass, grateful that they have each other but being angry that they can’t just be happy. He then glances over to his parents. Mary looks almost as worried as Cass is but he has a feeling that the worry is mostly for what will happen if they were wrong about the power sharing preventing Chuck from just killing Jack and getting his powers back. John on the other hand is glancing around the room, avoiding looking at Dean and Cass. Sam obviously knows why and it just angers him further. John still isn’t okay with Dean being with Cass but at least he isn’t saying anything insensitive or rude.   
Eileen looks over at Sam’s tense glare at his father and grabs his hand. “So what can we be doing in the meantime?”  
“I don’t think there’s anything we can do,” Sam says sighing. “We just wait I guess.”  
John finally looks at Dean before turning to Sam. “Is there any way for us to see what’s happening on Earth?”  
“Technically yes but we would have to do a spell and they probably have the area warded against magic. Plus by the time we get the ingredients together, Jack’ll probably be back.”  
“Still something to do while we wait.”  
Before anyone can respond there is a flap of wings from the kitchen. Cass immediately shoots up and runs into the other room. The rest of the Winchesters follow. 

~~~~~~~~~~

“Jack! What happened? Are you okay?”  
Before Jack can respond Cass is enveloped in a hug from Kelly. “Thank you for protecting my baby.”  
“It was my pleasure.”  
Kelly pulls back and smiles. “There is no one I would rather be his father than you, Castiel.”  
Cass tears up as he returns the smile. “Thank you.”  
“Cass.” Jack says quietly as he slides down into a chair.  
“I was so worried Jack. I never should have let you go without me.”  
“Cass we shouldn’t have done it. Now all they have to do is kill all the angels that I gave the power to and Chuck gets his powers back. And as each of them are killed he gets some power back making it even easier for him to kill the rest.”  
“Jack.” Cass kneels in front of Jack.  
“Cass. He’s going to kill you.”  
“No, he’s not.” Dean says from behind Cass. “Cause I’m not letting that happen ever again.”  
“Jack,” Sam says, “what happened?”  
“Chuck still wants to destroy the world and start over but he won’t if we give him his power back. So we either let him kill 9 angels and the god of death or 8 billion people die.”  
“Well that’s stupid. How’s he gonna destroy the planet without his powers?” Dean responds.  
“They’re gonna blow it up.”  
“What does he mean blow it up?”  
“He means literally blow it up. Human style. There are enough nukes and explosives on Earth to blow up a planet 10 times its size. All they have to do is possess the world leaders.”  
“That’s fucking insane,” Sam remarks.  
“But entirely possible,” Cass utters and looks at Jack and Kelly. “The president’s been possessed before obviously.”  
Dean snorts and everyone else stares at him. “What?! That’s funny.”  
Sam rolls his eyes. “How do we stop this?”  
“We stop playing defense and make the first move,” John says after a few moments of silence. “I may not know angels but I know hunting. You don’t wait for the monster to come to you, you go to it. These assholes seem like monsters to me, so let’s treat them like it and hunt these sons of bitches.”


	8. Heaven Civil War 2.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle starts

“Another war in heaven. I had hoped we were done with this.” Cass sighs.  
“What did you think would happen after a regime change?” Gabe responds as they stand at the front of the ‘throne room’. “Just 'cause we’re angels doesn’t mean we’re peaceful.”  
“Well I knew that but I just thought that maybe this time would be okay since Jack was God and… I don’t know. I was too optimistic I guess.”  
“No, you thought what we all did, that Chuck was the problem. But maybe we’re just even more flawed than humanity is.”  
“Oh, we definitely are,” Cass smirks. “I mean I tried to consume Leviathans and you used your powers to get into porn.”  
“I do not regret that decision.”  
“Of course you don’t.” Cass turns to the group of angels in front of them. “Okay, everyone! I know there has been a lot of change in Heaven recently and that this is a lot to ask but if you know anything about Chuck then you know he cannot become God again. If you are willing to fight, we need you.”  
“What Castiel is trying to say is that we need to smite his ass. And all the asses who are trying to help him.”  
“But not smite him because we don’t want to kill the people in the surrounding area since they have moved to the middle of Los Angelos. Probably so we can’t do that unless we are willing to kill millions.”  
“But God, er Chuck, is human now,” Hannah says, “why is he even a concern?”  
“Because he has an unknown number of angels, reapers, Death, and a very powerful witch fighting on his behalf.” The group is silent.  
“But we have you guys.” Gabe breaks the tension. “So that’s somethin’ right?”  
“Not helpful,” Cass mutters before turning back to the group. “We also have all the demons in Hell thanks to Rowena, and Jack is working on getting some people from Purgatory.”  
“Purgatory?” An angel interjects. “We’re resorting to asking monsters for help?”  
“Just the ones that we trust. They’re not all bad.”  
“And the humans?”  
“What about them?”  
“Will they be helping?”  
“There are some humans on Earth that will be helping but everyone here will not be joining us. They have no bodies to return to Earth to.”  
“When do we go?” Hannah asks.  
“As soon as we’re all ready.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Are you sure I can’t come with you?” Dean asks.  
“Dean, you don’t have a body to inhabit on Earth. It isn’t even an option.”  
“But what if something happens to you? Jack can’t get you from the Empty anymore. I can’t lose you again.”  
“I’m going to be fine. I promise.”  
“How do you know?”  
“Because I promised myself that never do anything to hurt you ever again.”  
“You may not have a choice.”  
“Dean. Everything’s going to be okay.”  
“It better.” He grabs Cass and pulls him in for a hug. Both of them with their eyes closed, clinging to each other like it’s the last time because both of them know that there’s always a chance that it could be. Cass buries his head in Dean’s shoulder, not wanting to let go, ever. “I love you,” Dean whispers in Cass’ ear.  
“I know.”  
“Don’t you Han Solo me!” Dean pulls back slightly to meet Cass’ eyes.  
“I love you too. Just wanted to lighten the mood a bit.”  
Dean laughs quietly and plants a kiss on the angel's lips before leaning their foreheads together. “Come back to me.”  
“Always.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Sam, Eileen, and Dean sit in the living room of Sam and Eileen’s house.  
“How long do you think they’ll be gone?” Sam asks.  
“I dunno. Time works weird here. 5 minutes on Earth could be a second here or a century.” Dean rests his elbows on his knees and buries his head in his hands.  
“He’s gonna be okay Dean,” Eileen says, placing her hand on Dean's shoulder. “They all are.”  
“Jack and Cass have got this,” Sam adds.  
“They have no idea what they’re walking into. Chuck could have millions on his side.”  
“And we have the power of God on ours. Plus angel juice on top of that and Claire and Kaya, and Garth and Benny from purgatory, and the demons, and Gabe got Hades to join. They’ve got this.”  
“You better be right.” Dean sighs.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Thank you for coming, Claire,” Cass says. Claire is no longer the young girl that Cass knew. She looks older than Cass now. Her blonde hair has faded to grey and her skin crinkles on the edges of her eyes.  
“Of course. Once a hunter, always a hunter. I have to say though, it’s really weird to see my father’s body as younger than me.”  
“I’m sorry. I just don’t have another vessel.”  
“No, I understand. I don’t even really see that body as my dad anymore anyway. It’s been so long.”  
Cass smiles. “I still can’t believe how much you’ve grown up.”  
“You can say it. I got old.”  
Cass laughs. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m much older than you are.”  
“Well to be fair, there aren’t many that are older than you.”  
“Very true. Where’s Kaya?”  
“She’s over there,” Claire points to a group of hunters, “filling some people in on what’s happening.”  
“I’m sorry to drag you two into this.”  
“Don’t worry about it.” She smiles at Cass. “We’ve been getting bored in retirement.”  
Cass returns the smile as she turns to head back to her wife.  
“Castiel,” comes a slow gruff voice from behind him.  
“Benny. Hello.”  
“Long time Brother.”  
“Very long time.”  
“Appears Dean couldn’t make it.”  
“He’s in Heaven.”  
“When did that happen?”  
“A couple decades ago.”  
“Sorry to hear that. I was hoping to see him all old and wrinkly.”  
“Sadly he never made it to that stage.”  
“You two ever…?”  
“Yes.” Cass clears his throat awkwardly. “Recently.”  
“About time. Tell him my congrats for me.”  
“You’re going to tell him yourself. After this is all over. We’re going to find a way for you to get to Heaven like you deserve.”  
“I’m not sure I do deserve it.”  
“You’ve done much more good than bad.”  
Benny sighs and smiles. “Thank you, Cass.” He turns away when Gabe walks up to them.  
“You ready?”  
“No.”

~~~~~~~~~~

They wait until dark to strike. Not that the dark has any effect on angels or demons or anything but at night there are fewer humans wandering around the city.  
“They just had to choose LA didn’t they,” Kaya whispers to Jack as they scope out the warehouse.  
“They had to choose a place that we couldn’t just smite.”  
“Dick move.”  
“Well, Chuck’s a dick so it fits.”  
“I don’t see anything. Are you sure this is where they are?”  
“Yes. I can sense them inside. But there’s no wardings or spells or anything on the building.”  
“Then they’re either being cocky or it’s a trap.”  
“Probably a little bit of both.”  
“Okay, we should probably head back to the others then.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh this is surely a trap,” Cass says. “I don’t know how they knew we were coming but they definitely did.”  
“Does that mean we’re just gonna try again later or…?” Garth asks from the back of the group.  
“No. If they want a fight, we’re going to give it to them.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Come out here Chuck!” Jack yells into the seemingly empty warehouse. His voice echoes back at him. “I know you’re in here!”  
“Jack! What a surprise.” Comes Chuck’s voice from behind him.  
“No, it isn’t.”  
“You’re right.”  
“I know you’re not alone.”  
“And I know you aren’t either.”  
“So why don’t we just get everyone out in the open and away from the city.”  
“Because that would be too easy.”  
“We’re not going to fight you in the middle of a heavily populated area.”  
“You’re no fun. What’s a good battle without some casualties.”  
“This isn’t your story anymore Chuck. There’s no need for innocent people to perish in this.”  
Chuck sighs dramatically. “Fine. Whatever gets this party started. Let's finish this where it all started last time. You know, that cemetery where I killed you?”  
“Fine.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay, we’re changing location.”  
“To where?” Cass says.  
“The cemetery that Dean almost killed me in, then Chuck actually killed me, then Chuck released all the souls from hell, then…”  
“Okay,” Cass interrupts, “I remember. Let’s go. We got a lot of people to move.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Are you sure you don’t just want to let me kill you and your superpowered angels?” Chuck says to Jack and Cass in a demeaning fake sympathetic voice from across the cemetery. “It would save a lot of lives.”  
“Or you could let us kill you again. It would save even more lives.” Jack snaps back.  
“Mmmmm, no. I think I’ll just stick with my plan.”  
They don’t respond. Jack simply turns to Cass and trades a worried look over the amount of backup that Chuck has. Dozens of angels and at least 20 witches, along with reapers, Death herself, various monsters, and humans. In total Chuck has at least 300 beings on his side. They have only 100 at most.  
“It’ll be okay Jack.”  
Jack swallows back his fear and turns to walk back into the group, Leaving Cass to reluctantly lead the army.  
“Okay.” Cass sighs. “Let's do this.”

~~~~~~~~~~

It isn’t going well by the looks of it. Chuck’s army is easily overpowering Cass’ just because of sheer numbers. Chuck is nowhere to be seen though. Why would he be? He’s fucking useless. Cass is surrounded by 3 angels and 2 leviathans. Even his extra power boost isn’t cutting it at this point. He’s bleeding from his head and his coat sleeves are both ripped up and bloodied with knife cuts. Jesse and Hades are doing their best to keep Death at bay. Combined their powers are enough to keep her out of the fight and away from the angels that are the main targets in the fight. They’ve already lost one, so Chuck is already powered up to about 10%. That’s probably why they’re going after Cass so hard.  
After Cass is able to strike one of the angels down he is able to hold his own better. Now holding a blade in each hand, he is able to send one of the leviathans back to purgatory and then kills a second angel. Just one more of each left.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Please Jebediah,” Jack yells over the noise as he faces off with a group of angels. "Enough blood has been shed. It’s not too late.”  
Jebediah responds with a swing at Jack with his angel blade. Jack easily dodges it and blasts him with his powers. Jebediah flies back and knocks over two of the angels backing him up. The other two angels run at him and he stops them in their tracks and forces them to the ground. He walks up and placing his hands on their shoulders. He closes his eyes as they yell in pain. When he opens his eyes they are lying on the ground with their eyes burned out. He turns around just as Jebediah stabs at him. The blade slices deep across his chest as he attempts to move out of the way. His grace shines through the cut as his shirt soaks up the dripping blood.  
He stumbles back and Jebediah goes after him again.

~~~~~~~~~~

By the time that Cass strikes down the last angel and Leviathan, another two of the angels had been killed. He looks across the cemetery in despair. The dead lie everywhere. He can’t even tell who is on which side anymore. It’s just a mass of bodies. The only individual he can make out is Jack, who is stumbling back as Jebediah stands over him, knife raised.  
“No! Jack.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Just as Jebediah swings his knife at Jack, Cass appears and takes the blade to his shoulder, yelling in pain and falling to his knees as it pierces all the way through him and comes out the other side.  
“Cass!”  
“Oh Castiel, you just make it too easy, don’t you?” He twists this knife as he smiles sadistically. He pulls one of Cass’ knives from his weakening hand and holds it up to his throat. “This one I’ll enj-” Before he can finish the sentence his eyes glow blue and light shines out his vessel’s mouth, falling to the ground.  
Cass looks up to see Garth holding a bloody knife.  
“Cass, Jack are you okay?”  
Jack nods weakly and Cass responds, “We will be now. Thank you.”  
“Well, Dean would kill me if I let anything happen to you two.” He grabs Cass by the hand a pulls him up before heading over to Jack.  
Cass looks over to where the rest of Jebediah’s group was and they are both dead on the ground with Claire and Kaya standing over them. There are similar scenes across the battlefield. Jesse and Hades stand over the pile of ash that used to be Death, her scythe in Jesse’s hand. Black goo and burnt wings cover the field. The battle is over, so where the hell is Chuck?


	9. The Flaming Sword

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Cass return with old friends and all is well until Jack won't heal. Lots of crying in this episode (from both the characters and me).

Everyone is getting restless and worried. Jack and Cass have been gone for hours. And since time is weird as hell in Heaven, no one has any idea how long it’s been on Earth.   
“Something has to have happened.” Dean paces around the room.  
“I’m sure they’re fine, Dean,” Mary says.  
“Then why hasn’t anyone popped back in to update us? It’s been forever.”  
“They’re in the middle of a war. They probably just haven’t had any time,” Sam reassures him even though he’s worried himself.  
Dean sighs and collapses onto the couch next to Eileen. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Cass looks across the field. There are less than half of them left. Only five of the angels, Jack, and Hades remain of God’s power. That means Chuck is nearly at half power. Everyone slowly merges together into a group, the hunters looking around to tally their losses. Many are covered in blood and black goo. No one has gotten by without a cut or bruise… or twenty. Jack is pale and staring blankly at the crowd.  
“This is all my fault.”  
“Jack…”  
“So many have died.”  
“It isn’t your fault, it’s Chuck’s.”  
“I should have just let him kill me.”  
“Then everyone would be dead.”  
“Maybe not. Maybe he would have let the Earth be and make another universe to start over on.”  
“You know that’s not true. This was the only way.”  
“Where’s Chuck?” One of the angels asks.  
“I don’t know.” Cass answers. “I guess he ran away.”  
“Or he just wanted to get as many of the angels who received his power killed as possible so all he needed to do was sit back and absorb the power,” Gabe adds.  
Cass nods. “Very possible.”  
“So what should we do now?” Hannah asks.  
“I guess we return to Heaven and regroup.”  
“What about us?” Claire interjects.  
“And us?” Garth gestures to him and Benny.  
“I can just send the humans back to their homes and you guys,” Cass gestures at Garth and Benny, “are coming to Heaven, where you deserve to be.”  
“Is that even possible?” Benny asks.  
“Who’s going to stop us?”

~~~~~~~~~~

WOOSH  
“Cass!” Dean tackles the angel.  
“Jack. I’m so glad you guys are okay. What happened?” Sam says.  
“We won… I guess. But Chuck didn’t show after so we have no idea what he’s planning.”  
“Well you’re both back alive and that’s all that matters.”  
“Damn Chief, you got sappy.” Benny interrupts Dean and Cass’ reunion.  
“Benny? What the hell are you doing here?”  
“Gee, good to see you too.”  
Dean laughs and walks up to give Benny a bear hug. “It is really good to see you, man.” He says as they pull apart. “But how are you here? I didn’t think vamps could come to Heaven.”  
“New leadership, new rules.”  
“I wasn’t going to let him and Garth go back to purgatory. Garth’s family either.” Cass explains.  
Dean looks at Cass and smiles. “Where’s Garth at then?”  
“Gabriel is getting them set them up at a place near here.”  
“Do you know how he and Beth died?”  
“Some hunters found them a few years ago.”  
Sam sighs. “I guess I wasn’t around to protect them anymore.”  
“Well, they’re at peace now. No more running or fighting.” Cass says.  
“So are you guys going to tell us the details?” Dean says, wrapping his arm around Cass.  
“I’m afraid you won’t like the details.”  
“If you got hurt, I swear…”  
“I’m fine. Well, now I am. It was mostly the vessel that got hurt.”  
“Cass.”  
“I’m fine. It was just a little stab wound. Jack took the worst of it.”  
Jack, on the other hand, was not in a vessel and was still covered in blood. “I’m fine.” He says weakly.  
“You’re clearly not,” Sam says, grabbing Jack by the shoulders as he stumbles forwards.  
“I just need some rest and I’ll be fine.”  
“You have the rest part right.” Cass pulls the armchair over to Jack as Sam guides him into it. “But that isn’t going to be enough. We should get Bobby. Have him take a look.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Jack is laid out on the couch unconscious with Bobby sitting in the chair next to him.  
“This cut’s pretty damn deep and in bad need of a deep cleaning to prevent infection but other than that there isn't much I can do. Can’t one of y’all just heal him?”  
“I tried,” Cass explains. “It was a special blade. Even with the extra power, I can’t do it. Being in Heaven will prevent infection but who knows what was on the blade. It could have been poisoned or cursed for all we know.”  
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Bobby asks Cass. “If you got stabbed by this thing it could have affected more than just your vessel.”  
“I’m fine, I assure you. Whatever it is, it’s attacking the human portion of Jack. His grace wasn’t damaged but it is unable to heal his body for some reason.”  
“If it was just a normal human injury then I could treat it like I would anyone else, but this definitely isn’t normal or human.”  
“Just do what you can Bobby. We’ll try and figure out what it is.” Sam says.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Was this the blade Cass?” Sam asks holding up a book.  
“Yes but smaller. It just looked like mine with some carvings on it.”  
“Well, then I think it was a piece of the Flaming Sword.”  
“The Flaming Sword?”  
“Am I missing something here guys?” Dean asks in confusion.  
“The Flaming Sword was given to a Cherub to guard the Garden after Adam and Eve were banished. Then it was removed after the messiah was resurrected. It’s been missing ever since. Well, I guess until now.”  
“What does that mean for Jack?” Dean asks.  
“Nothing good. It was created to inflict a slow and painful death on any human that tried to get into the garden as punishment for their sins. The greater their sins, the longer and slow their suffering.”  
“What sins has Jack committed? He saved the fucking world. And he’s like the most innocent person in the universe. He’s never done anything wro-” Dean stops mid-word, a sudden realization draining all the color from his face. “Mom,” he whispers.  
Cass stands up and runs his hand over his face.   
“Then what’s the cure? There has to be a cure.” Sam sighs.  
“One was never created. I don’t think it was intended to have a cure.” Cass leans against the wall in hopelessness.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jack groans as he rolls over to his side.  
“Hey hey hey, you have to stay on your back.” Cass places his hand on Jack’s shoulder to steady him. “How are you feeling?”  
“Cold.”  
Cass stands and grabs a blanket from the loveseat and drapes it over Jack gently. “How’s that?”  
“Better. Thank you, Cass.”  
“Of course. You’re going to be alright Jack. I promise.”  
“Cass, you need to focus on Chuck.”  
“Chuck isn’t the priority right now. You are.”  
“I don’t matter Cass.”  
“What are you talking about Jack? You matter to me, and Dean, and Sam, and everyone else on this planet. You’re a hero Jack. And you’re my son. So you are not dying and you are not going back to the empty. Because I am not going to let that happen. You hear me?”  
A tear runs out the corner of Jack’s eye and down his temple. “I heard you guys talking. I know what it is. I deserve it, Cass. I’ve lied to everyone. I’ve hurt people. I hurt you and Sam and Dean. I- I killed Mary. I deserve this, Cass. Because that sword was created to punish people like me. It’s doing exactly what it’s meant to.”  
Tears stream down Cass’ face. “Jack,” he sobs. “You do not deserve this. You know why? Because you are good. We all have done bad things but it doesn’t make us bad. It doesn’t make us ‘sinners’. It makes us human. Even if the two of us aren’t actually human our mistakes make us more and more human with every single screw-up. They make us closer to the people we love because they forgive us and love us no matter what we do. So don’t you dare say that you deserve this because if you deserve it then we all do. Everyone in the entire universe.”   
Jack closes his eyes as more tears stream out. His lower lip trembles, unable to form words.

~~~~~~~~~~

“How’s he doing?” Sam asks as he, Eileen, and Dean enter the room with books and binders.  
“He was awake for a little bit but he passed back out a few minutes ago.”  
“We’re going to figure this out Cass,” Dean says placing his hand on Cass’ shoulder. “I promise. He’s going to be okay.”  
“He thinks he deserves it,” Cass whispers without taking his eyes off of Jack.  
“What?” Sam questions. “Why the hell would he think that?”  
“Mary.”  
“Fuck.” Dean collapses into the chair next to Cass, guilt washing over him. “That wasn’t his fault, he didn’t have a soul.”  
“Have you ever told him that?” Sam asks.  
Dean sighs and places his hand on Jack’s arm.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jack starts to stir a few minutes later. This time with just Dean sitting beside him. Cass, Eileen, and Sam are in the other room trying to find a cure.  
“Hey Jack, how you feeling?”  
“Same. Hot.”  
Dean pulls the blanket off of Jack and placed his hand on his forehead. “Ya you definitely have a fever. How is that even possible? We’re in freaking Heaven for God’s sake.”  
“I’m fine.”  
“No, you’re not. But we’re going to fix you up. You’ll be healed in no time.” Jack doesn’t respond, he just stares up at the ceiling. “Listen, Jack. Cass told me what said. About you deserving this for hurting us, an- and killing our mom.” Dean sighs and closes his eyes. “I need you to know that I forgive you. Actually, no, there’s no need for me to forgive you because it wasn’t your fault, Jack because you didn’t have a soul. And it wasn’t your fault that you didn’t have a soul. You lost it because you saved us. Then even though I was terrible to you, you saved us again and again. Then you saved the entire world and took on another huge burden. And now you’re dying and in pain again because you were trying to protect the world that you sacrificed so much to save and you think you deserve it. And that’s bullshit. That’s absolute bullshit, Jack. You deserve nothing but a peaceful, happy life, but we don’t alway get what we deserve and that’s why you’re in pain and Chuck is free. And I can’t explain why this is happening to you but I can tell you that it is not what you deserve. You understand me?”  
“Ya,” Jack chokes out, his voice cracking as he struggles to get the word out.   
“Good. I love ya, kiddo. Now get some rest. We’ll get you better soon.” Dean leans back in the chair and tilts his head back as tears run down his face, wiping them away as they come out. 

~~~~~~~~~~

“Wait, it says here that if the person confesses and is ‘cleansed’ of their sins then the ‘pain will cease’,” Sam says after an hour of scouring the books.  
“But does that mean he will be healed or die?”  
“I- I don’t know. It just says ‘the pain will cease’.”  
“Well keep looking, we’re not going to let him die.”  
“Cass, if this is the quote-unquote ‘cure’, then this might be the only way to end this. I mean won’t his soul just go to heaven anyway? Since it’s his human half that’s damaged.”  
“We don’t know for sure. It’s entirely possible that it could rip him apart. His human soul dying and remaining here while his angelic half remains intact in his body. We could end up with another soulless Jack but this time without any human qualities or thought processes.”  
Sam sighs and runs his hand over his face,“well in case we don’t find anything else we should probably prepare for the worst but still only cross that bridge if we need to. This could eventually be our only option given how little information there is on the sword.”  
“I know. I just-“ Cass takes a deep breath, “I just can’t give up. Not yet. But you’re right. We need to be ready. Jack can’t go on suffering like this.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey want to switch places?” Sam whispers to Dean as he and Eileen enter the room, “We’ve done enough research for a lifetime.”  
“Sure. He’s been out for about an hour now.”  
“You get to talk to him?”  
“Ya.”  
“And?”  
“And nothing. I told him that nothing that has happened is his fault and that the only thing that he deserves is happiness and he said he understood.”  
“Good.”  
“Now go comfort your husband, he’s a mess in there.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey, how you holding up?”  
“Not well,” Cass sighs out. “Only thing we’ve found may or may not kill him and may or may not split Jack’s soul from his body.”  
“What would that mean?”  
“A soulless body possessing the qualities and powers of Lucifer being released in the world while Jack’s human soul exists here in heaven.”  
“Well shit.”  
“Ya… shit.”  
“What would it involve?”   
“Basically Jack would just have to confess his sins.”  
Dean takes a seat next to Cass and picks up a book from the ‘unread’ pile. “Well, what if we removed his grace and then he did it. Would that prevent his from being split like that?”  
“Yes, that would probably work, but he still might die.”  
“Better than being in pain and then dying anyway. How about if we don’t find anything else by the time we get through these books then we can cross that bridge.”  
Cass nods and leans over to rest his head on Dean’s shoulder.   
Dean smiles and places a kiss on Cass’ head. “Why don’t you take a little break and I’ll keep looking?”  
Cass just nods again.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sam walks into the room a few hours later to find Dean and Cass glued to their respective books. “Find anything new?”  
“Nothing.” Dean answers.  
“I think it’s time we cross the bridge.” Cass looks at the brothers.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay, Jack. We think we found something that will stop this but possibly could mean you would die and couldn’t leave Heaven.” Sam says bluntly.  
“Christ, way to sugarcoat it,” Dean mutters.  
“Sorry.”  
“It’s fine. I appreciate the honesty,” Jack says weakly. “What do I have to do?”  
Cass sighs. “We have to remove your grace then you have to confess.”  
“Huh.”  
“You have to become fully human then confess your sins to a priest. Then the curse will be lifted and you will either die or heal. The book wasn’t very clear.”  
“Okay.” Jack tries to sit up but fails. “Anyone know a priest?”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Thank you for coming,” Cass says to a man in a black suit, “I’m sorry to interrupt your paradise.”  
“It’s no problem. I’m always happy to do God’s work.”  
Cass stifles a laugh. “I’m glad to hear. Just a warning, the things he’s going to tell you may be a little out of the ordinary compared to what you are used to hearing.”  
“Believe me, I’ve heard some crazy stuff.”  
“Well you’ve never talked to the son of Lucifer who became God then gave up being God and is now dying from being cut by the Flaming Sword.”  
“Excuse me?”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Hiya father, how ya doin’?” Dean asks as the man and Cass enter the room.  
“Hi, Father Jackson. I’m doing well. You?”  
“Hopefully about to be better. I’m Dean, this is my brother Sam and his wife Eileen and this is Jack.” He gestures over at the couch.  
“So you all kind of adopted him?”  
“Ya pretty much,” Cass says.  
“All four of you?”  
“Well mostly just Sam, Cass, and I,” Dean walks up to Cass and wraps his arm around his shoulders. “Eileen was dead for the first part of his life.”  
Father Jackson opens his mouth to speak but nothing comes out. After a moment he is able to form a sentence. “Well, this is definitely the weirdest job I’ve ever had.”  
“Oh it’ll likely get weirder,” Sam laughs quietly. “Okay, we’ll leave you with Jack. But, um, first, Cass, you want to get his grace?”  
“Want to, no. But yes. Just a moment Father.” He grabs Dean’s hand to pull him with him as he walks over to Jack and pulls out his blade. “I’m sorry Jack.” He removes his hand from Dean’s, placing it on Jack’s shoulder. Sighing and grimacing, he sliced across Jack’s throat. Dean holds out a flask and Jack’s grace streams into it. Cass runs his hand over the cut to heal it. “Are you okay Jack?”  
“No worse than before,” he answers.  
“Okay.” Cass gulps. “You’re going to be better soon.”  
With that they head out of the room, leaving Jack with Father Jackson to confess his apparent sins.

~~~~~~~~~~

“So how do I start this out?” Jack asks weakly.  
“With a forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.”  
“Okay. Forgive me Father for I have sinned. My birth was a sin in itself. My mother was a human and my father was the archangel, Lucifer. The first thing I did when I was born was kill my mother, not intentionally but still, she would have lived a long life if I hadn’t been born.”  
“It's not a sin to have been born Jack.”  
“Either way, my birth has brought nothing but pain. Just after my mom died I got afraid and attacked Sam and Dean. I hurt others too. After Sam, Dean and Cass took me in I killed an innocent man on a hunt. I put my trust in Lucifer and he took my powers which led to Dean having to sacrifice his body for Michael to defeat him, which led to Dean being used and hurt for months. After I got my grace back I burned off my soul using my powers to kill Michael and I-” his voice cracks, “I killed Sam and Dean’s mom, Mary after I killed Nick for trying to resurrect Lucifer. Which drove Cass and Dean apart and caused them and Sam pain. Then God killed me and my death only brought more pain to the people I love. When I came back, I failed to kill God and that resulted in the entire world being wiped out and Cass dying, which destroyed Dean. After we won and I became God I failed to control things how I should have and a group of angels broke Chuck out to try and restore him as God which led to hundreds of deaths that could have been avoided if I had just been smarter. On top of all of that pain that I have caused, I’ve lied to and deceived people. I’ve been selfish. I’ve been-”  
“Jack,” Father Jackson interrupts. “None of that was your fault. All of that happened because you were trusting and selfless and kind. Have you made mistakes? Yes, but we all have. I don’t think you needed to confess your sins as much as you need to forgive yourself. You believe you deserve the pain and that is why the sword’s curse is affecting you. You are cleansed of your sins and are forgiven in my eyes, so all you need to do is forgive yourself, Jack.”  
Tears roll down Jack’s face. “I don’t know if I can.”

**Author's Note:**

> Writing tips are always welcome :)


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